When Tsunade's Bored
by SarcasticallyTroublesomeGirl
Summary: Tsunade decides to take extreme action when she notices that her favorite chuunin aren't close anymore. But just how extreme are we talking? "HOW MANY BOTTLES DID YOU DRINK TO COME UP WITH THIS IDEA?" "Actually only one." Shoved into 2 houses, Konoha 12 and the Sand Sibs try to survive each other through it all; fighting, gambling and...love? Nejiten Sasusaku Shikaino Naruhina
1. Intro

**Okay, so I was bored (obviously) and decided to start another fic. To all the people who read my other fic, no, this isn't the sequel to When Kakashi's Bored. This will be distinctly less crackfilled.**

**Summary: So basically, Tsunade's bored and alone in her office with a bottle of sake and files on her favorite Chuunin and a thought about how she hasn't bet or gambled in a while…And ****_that _****proves not to be a very good combination as the gang soon finds out. And now they have to live together. They thought it'd be disastrous but…what's this? Friendship? Love?**

**Pairings: Shikaino, Nejiten, Sasusaku, Naruhina, Gaasuri, Kibatema, (And maybe an OC pairing involving houji, Shino, Lee, or Kankuro) Oh yeah and mild Kakaanko and mild mild mild Asukure, and Genshi (Genma x Shizune)**

**And with that, let's begin! Disclaimer: I am not a Japanese man named Masashi Kishimoto. I am a teen in America that, when bored, sometimes turns to fanfiction. R&R.**

* * *

**When Tsunade's Bored Prologue**

It was a wonderful afternoon. The birds were chirping, it wasn't too hot and there was a nice breeze going through every now and then. Yes, it was simply beautiful. But enough about that! Because no one cares. Outside it was nice but inside- inside Tsunade's office to be more specific- was far worse.

"WHAT?!" 12 voices could be heard.

Tsunade didn't say anything. She didn't feel the need to since this was the _seventh time_ they had exclaimed this. She just surveyed the whole room. Kiba was lying on the floor next to Chouji and Akamaru. She wrinkled her nose at the sight. Really, they had only been there for three hours! No reason to be laying on her floor. Shikamaru had just fallen asleep though she doubted Ino wouldn't take care of that. Neji and Tenten were on one couch next to each other, sitting quite close. Hm, this was one of the reasons why she was doing this in the first place. Tsunade grinned but it was immediately wiped off her face as one color blind shinobi stuck his face in hers and proceeded to yell.

"ARE YOU SMOKING CRACK BAA-CHAN!? WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ABOUT?!" Tsunade glared but Naruto paid no heed. "I MEAN, US?! TOGETHER IN-"

"NARUTO! SHUT THE HELL UP! STOP YOUR YELLING! IT'S GIVING ME A HEADACHE!" Insert group sweatdrop. Sakura turned to Tsunade. "Tsunade-shishou, what Naruto meant was how could we possibly-oh eff it- HOW MANY BOTTLES OF SAKE HAVE _YOU_ BEEN DRINKING TO GET THIS CRAZY IDEA?!"

"Actually…one. Is there a problem, Sakura-_chan_?" Tsunade placed her chin on her folded hands and stared at Sakura. Sakura took a step back, "Um…no, n-nevermind."

"Oh," Tsunade said. "Well, in that case-"

"NO! NOT NEVERMIND! WHAT IN THE HELL IS THIS ALL ABOUT?!" Ino shouted as she stood up from her spot and pointed at Tsunade. Her face was turning red from anger and Tsunade smiled slightly. Ino was so very lucky that she was one of Tsunade's favorites. Tsunade couldn't help but like her. She had a temper just like her. "NARUTO'S RIGHT! _HAVE _YOU BEEN SMOKING SOMETHING!? I DEMAND-"

"INO!" Shikamaru put a hand over her mouth as he wrapped an arm around her waist and attempted to bring her back to her seat. "Troublesome," he muttered and turned to look at their Hokage. "Heh heh…don't mind her. I think it's that time of the month."

"IT IS _NOT_ THAT TIME OF THE MONTH SHIKA AND YOU _KNOW_ IT!" Ino got her mouth out of his grasp. She turned back to Tsunade. "SERIOUSLY…WHAT COULD'VE POSSIBLY POSSESSED YOU TO EVEN _DO_ SOMETHING LIKE THIS?!"

"…" Tsunade stayed quiet and looked around the room and saw that everyone was staring at her intently, waiting for an answer. Even Shikamaru was looking at her, his grip on Ino's waist slack. She sighed and held back a grin as she saw Shikamaru and Ino's positions. "Look, it's not a _punishment_. I just think you guys could use an experience like this to strengthen your relationship with each other."

"B-but…um, if I may," Hinata said and Tsunade's eyes softened. No one could ever stay mad with Hinata involved. She continued, "We do get along. I mean, maybe we do fight but everyone does sometimes and we're all friends. We have a strong relationship and-"

"YEAH!" Naruto yelled and the quiet and peaceful atmosphere was destroyed immediately. "Hinata's right! We don't have to do this! And what do you mean by "We could use this experience"?! We don't need this crap! So why-"

"Because!" Tsunade yelled, slamming her hands on the table. A crack was heard and a moment later, the table split. "You're not like normal ninjas, okay?! You guys went through stuff that normal people don't go through. And I don't think I need to remind you of all people, Naruto! Now I don't expect you all to agree with me but you don't have a choice. I think you could use this."

"…" Everyone stared at her and Naruto just pouted.

Tsunade sighed again. "Fine. If you don't want to do it, I'll test you and if you give me what I'm looking for, you don't have to do it. Now Hinata: Tell me what you think of Naruto."

Hinata blushed. "U-um…h-he's nice, a-and determined and sticks up for his friends. H-he's the k-kind of p-person someone would hook up with."

"What!?" everyone did a double take.

"Sh-should look up to..." she stuttered. They all relaxed. Naruto stared at her in wonder as the others just looked at Tsunade expectantly. She sighed, "Sasuke, what do you think of…Neji?"

"Well, he is a nice person in my opinion and easy to get along with. We train sometimes and he's very determined."

"Fine you pass! You don't have to do it," Tsunade said.

"Yes!" Ino, Naruto, Kiba, Tenten and Sakura shouted. Ha fools. Did they really think she was going to fall for that? If so, they were all just plain stupid. The Uchiha would never talk that much and especially about the Hyuuga. Yes, they were all terribly stupid if they thought she would fall for that. What the hell did they think of their Hokage?! That she was just some drunk who liked to gamble?! Well, ahem, that was true but that's not the point! She was not born yesterday, goddamnit! She'd show them!

"Yes, whatever!" Tsunade said. "Now let's play a game. It's a fun game and me and Shizune play all the time. Kiba and Ino, you have to act like each other. Everyone else, don't say one word or else you won't have any missions higher than c-rank…or in some cases, lower than c-rank," she added after Shikamaru smiled widely. Sakura, Shikamaru, Neji, and Sasuke knew exactly what Tsunade had planned but couldn't say anything. Damnit!

"Me…I have to act like her!?" Kiba pointed at Ino who glared at him in response. "Piece of cake…Hm…let's see. Oh, I know!"

Kiba stood up and ran over to Sasuke, grabbing on to his arm. "Like, oh em gee, Sasuke-kun, I LOVE you SO much! Forget about Forehead over there. Why don't _we_ have some fun?!" Kiba said in a high-pitched voice as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and pretended to flip his hair. He then added a giggle for good measure. Ino's face turned red as Kiba busted out laughing. "I only hope I did it some justice," he choked out.

"Your turn," Tsunade said, turning to Ino. Ino put on a fake smile, "My pleasure."

Ino then jumped up from her spot, pointing at Naruto, "Akamaru! Let's show this loser how the dogs do it! Awooooo!" Ino howled. She then proceeded to run in a circle on all fours and stuck her tongue out in a sloppy grin. "Oh look at that girl. She's hot! No Akamaru, I was talking about the dog! Oh, look Akamaru. It's dirt! I'm gonna go roll in it so I smell just like you!" Ino said as she began rolling around on the floor, making barking noises. She then stood up and smiled sweetly at the glaring Kiba, "Now I don't know about _you_, but I feel much, _much _better."

Tsunade looked back and forth between the two and rolled her eyes, "You fail! You all have to stay in a house together."

Ino and Kiba's eyes widened as they looked at Tsunade. "W-what?!"

Everyone groaned. Tsunade shook her head, "Look guys, it'll strengthen you all in ways you never even thought of and Kiba and Ino prove it. They don't know anything about each other but they just assume they know the other one."

"Yeah! Kiba, you idiot! I don't act anything like that," Ino finished, sounding slightly hurt.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kiba sneered. "I probably should've glomped Sasuke-_kun_ right? Maybe added a few more fangirl squeals?"

Shikamaru glared at Kiba but Ino just pushed him back, "It's okay Shika. For your information, Kiba, that was all an act!"

"Yeah…right," Kiba scoffed. Ino glared but didn't say anything even though she knew they all wanted to know. She turned away and propped her cheek on her palm as she stared at the wall. "…"

"Um…I-Ino-san?" Hinata spoke up.

"Ino-chan," Ino automatically corrected.

"H-hai…Ino-chan…w-what'd you mean it was an act…if you don't mind me asking?" Hinata said. Sakura nodded enthusiastically.

"…Well…do you really want to know?" Ino asked. Everyone nodded. "Fine…well, when Sakura had broken our friendship, it was because she thought I liked Sasuke but I didn't. Some girl must've overheard me talking to someone and told Sakura but she had misheard. The girl I was talking to was saying that Sasuke was mean and she didn't like him because of it and I said that he just seems sad and that I do like him. The other girl must've thought I meant I _liked_ Sasuke not liked him and-"

"Wait," Naruto interrupted. "What do you mean? Liked and liked is the same thing."

"No. I didn't _like _him…I just liked him," Ino looked at the boy. Naruto just looked even more confused and scratched his head. Ino rolled her eyes and ignored him. "Anyway, the girl told Sakura and Sakura broke our friendship and that's what happened."

"…" they all stared at her. Sakura spoke, "But why'd you act the way you did around Sasuke?"

Ino stared at Sakura for a second but no one else noticed. _Where did the –kun go?_

"Well…because, like I said it was an act, okay? So that's it!" Ino turned away, staring at the wall again. Everyone stared at her and Shikamaru tugged her ponytail. She looked over and glared at him. He looked at her sternly as he mouthed _Get over your pride_. She pouted and then shook her head, only enough for him to notice as she stuck her nose in the air, which was her way of saying a silent indignant NO!

The silence persisted and Ino finally turned back around to find people still staring at her. She sighed, "Fine! It was because…she was my best friend! Even if she did what she did, I still cared for her as if she was my sister. Okay?! God, that's sounds so corny and cliché like it's a line out of some corny teen drama or some fanfic by a 13-year-old!"

Hmpf, shows her. I'm _at least_ 16.

Everyone laughed slightly but it turned to silence as they stared at her again. "Go on," Naruto said. She rolled her eyes, "Fine…I cared about her and I knew she'd be hurt without me and-God, do you know how sappy I _feel _right now!?- Ugh! I didn't want her to be picked on so I made her fight over Sasuke. I made her confident. Every time I teased her, she got annoyed and blew up and yelled at me and then it would turn into a big, loud argument. Without me, girls would've teased her about her big forehead and how she'd never be with Sasuke. Without me, she would've been stepped all over. The other fangirls were already kind of scared of me cause I was loud from the start but then everyone started to think of Sakura as the only one who could actually hold their own with me, the "number one fangirl". And because of that, they backed off. After all the fighting they thought us two had the best chance of getting with Sasuke so they kind of backed off of Sasuke too. It was my way of helping them both…as _friends_. The End. Okay? Happy now? Good because I'm feeling ever so great," she finished sarcastically, despite the slight blush on her face.

Shikamaru tugged her ponytail again with a grin on his face, "It's about time…pi-

"Don't say it!" Ino said sharply. "Especially in front of _her_!"

"What?! You mean you knew?!" Naruto accused Shikamaru, not even registering the weird conversation between the two.

"No," Shikamaru said, voice dripping with sarcasm. He looked up at the ceiling and then groaned as he remembered that clouds wouldn't be there.

"Wait…but-"

"It was sarcasm! Baka!" Neji yelled. Tenten giggled.

"…" Tsunade glared at them all. _What the hell is wrong with them? Since when did this become story hour?! I'm their _Hokage_ damnit! Did they just forget about the whole mission!? Of course…on the plus side, now everyone knew why Ino did that and now I respect her a lot more…and the anger about the fact that they're gonna be living together isn't as bad…and I got some entertainment! Well…this wasn't so bad after all. What was I mad about? …Oh yeah! I got a hangover and I had to deal with their loudness…and I broke my favorite desk…Damn them! How the hell did all this crap start anyway…oh yeah…_

Flashback: Yesterday (9:00pm)

_"I am so bored," Tsunade was in her office, laying her head on her desk. "Shizune, why am I here again?" she whined. Shizune glared at the lazy Sannin, "You promised the elders you'd stay here and finish the paperwork you have to fill out and the missions you have to give tomorrow."_

_"Hai hai, I know that. I mean, why am I here?" Tsunade said._

_"Oh!" Shizune smiled sweetly. "Because after you promised to do the work," Shizune glared again, "you completely forgot because of some children's play thing you found in the closet and you, being the irresponsible person you were, decided to play with it the WHOLE day-"_

_"Hey!" Tsunade exclaimed indignantly. "Uno cards and Slinkies are VERY fun! It's completely understandable. Have YOU ever played with a slinky?! Huh?! No! So don't get on ME just cause I decided to summon my slug and…have a slinky slug party with uno cards."_

_"…" Shizune just stared at her Hokage and then shook her head. "I didn't need to know that. I'm taking Tonton for a walk. When I come back, you better be done at least one third of the work!" Shizune walked to the door, ignoring the shouts of Tsunade, "One third?! What?! Shizune, that's completely unfa-"_

_Shizune closed the door, picking up Tonton. She then turned down a hallway, "How did she have a party with that massive slug and a slinky anyw- you know what? I don't want to know."_

_"Man," Tsunade grumbled back in her office. "She's so mean and stern sometimes. And there's nothing to do. Eff this crap. If she thinks I'm doing this, she's crazy. And aren't the_ mission assignments_ supposed to go to the ninja who got stuck with that job of _assigning them_?! Why the hell are they on MY desk! Oh well…I'll just slip them in his desk. He'll get in trouble for forgetting to do them and I'll have to deal with him and, of course, I'll let him off easy. His punishment will be to…do my paperwork! Hehehe! Genius! And that takes care of all my work for tonight. Tsunade, how do you do it?" Tsunade reclined in her chair, propping her feet on the desk. A second later, though, she fell off the chair. She rubbed the back of her head as she got up, "That never happened before. It's a sign that I shouldn't be sitting down. Hm…I'll just slip those mission assignments in that guy's desk now."_

_She came back and sat down in the chair. "Hm…" she spun around in her chair "Ooh this is sooo fun! Now I know why Sakura was doing it that one time I caught her. Yes, very fun indeed. But I'm still bored. Hm…I wonder…oh, I just remembered I never drank that sake I had! Hm…is the coast clear?" Tsunade sat back up, listening for a second. She got down on the floor and moved her chair out the way, "Hm…which one was it?" She tapped the floorboards and found the hollow one she was looking for, "Yes!" She tore it up and grabbed the sake bottle, and grabbed a stick of dango while she was at it. She had to remember to thank Anko for finding out a way to preserve that stuff! That trick came in handy! She replaced the floorboard and sat back up._

_"Hm…now I have my sake, some food…Hm…now I just need some entertainment!" she dug in her drawers, looking for something. "Ah, here it is. The old files of all of Konoha 12," She said, beginning to drink out of the bottle. "They were so cute back then! Except for that Sasuke boy. With his little cockatoo head! Honestly, what did girls see in him!? Neji, Kiba, and Shika should've gotten the fangirls. They were all so cute. And maybe Naruto but he was just a little too loud. Speaking of all of them, they just brought cockatoo boy back a little while ago; you'd think everyone would be together but Konoha 12 seems even more split up. And Sakura always seems so sad lately. Unless she's with Naruto and Ino. And everyone's acting weird around each other. And on a completely different topic, I haven't bet in a while. Oh. My. GOD! I just got the greatest idea! EVER! We'll put Konoha 12 in two houses and they'll have to live together. And then I'll start a betting pool on who will get together first. Ooh, and we'll somehow think of a way to get the Sand Siblings in it too! This'll be great! There's no way that I won't win at least one bet! Kukuku! Of course, the senseis will have to be notified and-"_

_"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune was back. "What was all that cackling about I heard a little while ago…is Orochimaru's evil spawn in here?!"_

_Tsunade sweatdropped. "Orochimaru is dead…he never had spawn. I was just…coughing…yeah."_

_"Is there something wrong?" Shizune said. "You sort of sounded like Deidara for a second."_

_"Um…yea-es! Yes, I'm fine!" Tsunade said. "But listen, I got an idea," she proceeded to whisper in Shizune's ear…rewording a few things of course._

_"Oh! That's excellent. It seems like fun. And a good experience," Shizune said._

_"Yeah I know!" Tsunade exclaimed. _Like I even care if they learn from this. I just want them to get together…and get some money…and entertainment!

_"Hey…wait a minute…are you drunk?" Shizune asked, recognizing the grin that was spreading on Tsunade's face._

_"NOooOoo," Tsunade said innocently. "Where would I even get sake from? Anyways-"_

_"And are you done your work?" Shizune continued her interrogation. There was something very odd about all this. "Or at least…one third?"_

_"Oh…yeah. I filled in some stuff and briefly read everything. That way, I'll just fill in the answers later," Tsunade said, waving a hand._

_"Hm…something is veerrry suspicious about you," Shizune put a finger to her lip._

_Tsunade didn't miss a beat, "Hey! You were gone longer than you thought, okay?! Just cause you don't think I know you're with _Genma_ doesn't mean that you didn't take a long time."_

_Shizune flushed, "T-that's not true! You know- I mean, I wasn't- G-Genma, he- an-and then- …we met coincidentally!" Tsunade smirked, "Heh…I never said I _saw_ you together. I was just teasing. So…what's this about meeting _coincidentally_?" Shizune sighed and smacked her forehead. _How the hell could I have fallen for that?_ She thought. She looked up at Tsunade, "Well…yes we're going out but I didn't want everyone to know cause…well you know how Konoha gossips. Think about how many weeks they'll be talking about how the shy, responsible Shizune got with rebellious, sexy Genma. And don't give me that look. A lot of people call him sexy and dangerous. I'm not the first."_

_Tsunade's smirk widened. "Well I won't tell. Hold on a sec while I call Jiraiya and Anko about our plan for Konoha 12," Tsunade picked up the phone and dialed Anko first. "Hello? Yeah, it's me. So, I got this plan to get our favorite Chuunin together…yeah, I know…oh and the Sand sibs, can't forget about them…yeah…of course! What kind of person would I be if I didn't have a betting pool?!…So, you in? Alright. By- oh and before I forget: Shizune's going out with Genma. I __**know**__! Alright, bye!"_

_"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune exclaimed. Tsunade held up two crossed fingers, not even looking up as she called Jiraiya. Shizune glared, "You're an adult for God's sake! You're not supposed to cross your fingers! That's for little kids. You don't see the Mizukage crossing his fingers when you're agreeing for _an alliance_!"_

_"Uh-huh! Yeah, I know. Yeah. Ja!" Tsunade hung up the phone. "Did you say something, Shizune?"_

_"…" Shizune huffed. "I'm going for a walk."_

_"A real one this time?" Tsunade said slyly._

**Slam!**

_"That's a no," Tsunade said._

_"Damn right, it's a no!" Shizune's voice filtered into the room. Tsunade smirked._

End Flashback

"…" Everyone stared at Tsunade. She glared, "What?"

"Baa-chan…" Naruto said. "You were laughing…for no reason." Ino cut in, "Wow…Well, now we know Naruto was right about that crack theory."

"Ha ha, very funny," Tsunade said. "I was just remembering something. Anyway, tomorrow, meet me at my office with the stuff you want to bring and then I'll take you to your new home, okay?"

"Okay! Sure!" Ino said enthusiastically. She glared, "No… Not really."

Tsunade sighed. "Look, we already established this. You. Don't. Have. A choice."

"…" Ino pouted slightly as the rest just sighed. "Hey," Shikamaru said, suddenly struck with inspiration. Everyone looked at him hopefully while Tsunade scowled. "Don't you have to get permission from our parents and our senseis and all that?"

Tsunade glared, _Damn you, you little smart-ass! You are SO lucky you're one of my favorites. Actually…they all are in their own little way…except cockatoo and Shino…he's just creepy. _She cleared her throat, "You know what…you're right. I'll just have to-"

"So," Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai walked in, "What'd you want?" Tsunade grinned, "We were just-" "Wait a minute! Kakashi-sensei, are you _on time_ for once?!" Naruto exclaimed. "No…we're all late," Asuma scratched the back of his head.

"So…like I was saying: you need permission," Shikamaru said again.

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Fine." She looked at the four senseis in front of her, "So…I thought of the best idea ever! Your teams should all live together! And then they might get along better…if you know what I mean. Their relationships will be deeper and they'll be able to relate to one another better. So…do you think it's a good idea?"

"Hm…" Kakashi said, scratching his head as he looked around. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were glaring at him. Sasuke activated his sharingan. Kakashi laughed nervously, "Well…do you guys want to do it?"

"NO!" Sakura and Naruto shouted immediately. "Hn," Sasuke agreed.

"What about you guys?" Kurenai looked at her students. They all shook their heads. "And you?" Asuma looked at his three. "Too troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. "DAMN RIGHT, IT'S TOO TROUBLESOME!" Ino added. "(Munch)…no…(munch)," Chouji said.

"No," Tenten said before Gai had a chance to speak.

"No."

"Yes! I think it'll be so youthful! We will all be filled with the youthful power of the majestic Lufh Tuoy!" Lee said. Everyone sweatdropped. Tenten hit him on the head, "You fricking idiot! You just said youthful backwards! The majestic Luth or whatever the hell you said isn't _real_!"

"Well," Kakashi grinned. "I guess we have no choice."

"You have our permission," the senseis said. Everyone immediately died. Sakura, Naruto, and Ino launched into a rant filled with curses with Lee trying to stop them, saying "youthful" many, many times. Neji and Sasuke sulked, "Hn." Tenten sharpened some kunai. She was going directly to the training field after this lest she want to harm some defenseless, little children. Hinata blushed…for some reason. Kiba rolled around with Akamaru until he saw Ino's triumphant smirk and abruptly stood up. Shino discreetly told some of his bugs to go pour some laxatives into Tsunade's sake. Why he had laxatives in the first place…I don't know. Why he conveniently forgot the fact that Tsunade could heal herself…I don't know that either but he did. Chouji began what people call stress eating. And lastly, Shikamaru went back to sleep…though Ino woke him up a second later.

Tsunade grinned and then turned back to the kids, "Now we don't need your parents' permission. I don't want to hear anything else."

Everyone grumbled. Naruto jumped up, "Come _on_ baa-chan! This is stupid! You know there's no _real _reason for doing this! You probably just want to bet on something or whatever!" he accused, pointing at her as his eyes narrowed. She grinned, _he knows me too well._

"Yes there is a reason!" Tsunade half-lied. "And anyway, it'll be good for the people who-"

"For the people who what?!" Naruto demanded.

"The people who don't have a family," she finished and it became tense as everyone grew silent and glanced around. Naruto glared at the floor, not looking at anyone. Sasuke glared at anyone who dared to look at him. Lee actually seemed saddened and stopped smiling. Tenten just looked at the ground. Neji put a hand on her shoulder and she looked at him slightly. His lips twitched upwards slightly as he looked at her in a way he meant to be nice and understanding, as he seemed to say, _I know how you feel._ But she just smiled sadly and nodded towards Hinata. He shook his head, _it's not the same._

"And now that you truly understand a few reasons why I'm doing this, are there any more arguments?"

Nobody said anything. They'd been here six hours now and they were too tired to even argue at that point. Ino and Sakura propped each other up on a couch, back to back and dozed off while Shikamaru took up the rest of it, muttering, "Ino's a hypocrite" and "that troublesome girl shouldn't ever wake me up again after she just fell asleep herself." Naruto and Kiba sat on the floor playing patty cake, thinking that no one saw or heard them when in reality, no one felt like pointing it out. Tenten rolled her eyes at her fate and leaned her head on Neji's shoulder, not bothering to ask if she could or not. He let her. The senseis saw this and grinned slightly but no one saw. Hinata, who sat on the other side of Neji, absentmindedly started braiding her hair. Shino and Sasuke were living sticks, standing against the wall and Chouji was continuing his stress eating.

Shikamaru sat up, yawned and placed his head in Ino's lap, not caring in the least if she complained or not. He looked at Tsunade, thinking of something again, "Well…since we can learn from this and since the senseis think it's _such_ a great idea, why don't you put _them_ in a house too?"

"Shikamaru," Asuma laughed. "We're adults. Tsunade-sama wouldn't do…" Asuma trailed off and looked at Tsunade in horror as she actually considered this! She grinned and nodded at Shikamaru, "You really are a genius! I'll do that too! And we'll add Anko, Genma, Shizune, and Iruka, just for the heck of it!"

"WTF?!" Asuma's face seemed to say. O.o

"This is not youthful!" Gai said.

"Yeah…I am not living with these bastards," Kurenai said. "It's one thing to talk to them at meetings but to actually wake up to them _every day_…ugh!"

They all looked to Kakashi to add his input and Kurenai rolled her eyes and took the book from him, smacking his head with it. "Huh, wha? I mean, I agree! Yeah…whatever…"

"Well that's too bad!" Tsunade said. "You heard all I had to say and like Shikamaru said, you said it was a good idea so now you're in it too. You're all dismissed!"

There were many grumblings indeed as everyone filed out of the office. Ino, who was the last out, slammed the door. Shikamaru came back, whispered "that time of the month" And closed the door softly and then Ino came back, opened it, screamed "IS NOT!" and slammed it again.

"Ah…another day in the life of the beautiful majestic Tsunade, the Gondaime of Konoha!" Tsunade said. "God, I have a huge hangover. And only one bottle too. Oh shit, I just remembered! That was the bottle that had two bottles' worth of alcohol in it! No wonder this motherfucker won't go away!"

She fell asleep and an hour later, she woke up to the sound of the door opening. Shizune came in, "Just wanted to know how they took it."

"Oh," Tsunade smiled. "They took it…well."

"Oh that's good," Shizune said. Tonton wandered over to Tsunade who picked her up and scratched her ears. Genma came in, putting his arm around Shizune's shoulders and she blushed slightly as Tsunade smirked. "So," Genma started, smirking as he rolled the senbon expertly in his mouth. "I heard you figured out that we were going out. How many people did you tell?"

"Only two: Anko and Jiraiya," Tsunade said, shrugging. "But that's like telling the whole village…unless Jiraiya was drunk and Anko decided to just tease you two and keep it a secret, holding it over your heads every time she wanted you to do something."

"Great…blackmail," Genma said sarcastically. He then grinned, "Oh well, seems risky. I like it." "See?" Shizune said, looking at the both of them. "He _likes _danger where as I am responsible and cautious! We don't match! Everyone will be talking for weeks about us."

"Eh…just means you'll keep him in line," Tsunade looked out the window. "Hey…what time is it?"

"Um…around 5. Why?" Shizune asked. Tsunade shook her head. She had only slept an hour, "I'm going home."

"Tsunade-sama, it's only-"

"Tsunade-sama!" Kotetsu stood in the doorway, holding some poor, young Jounin up by the collar behind him. "This baka forgot to do some of the mission assignments. Do we have permis-"

"Come in," Tsunade said. "Okay…now what's the problem?" Tsunade said, biting her lip to keep herself from laughing as she looked at them. Kotetsu sighed, "He forgot to fill out the mission assignments. Now Konoha will be backed up. There are 5 teams who don't have missions and they are still here for debriefing. What should we do with him?"

"Tsunade-sama, I swear I didn't see them! I thought I did-" The Jounin started but Kotetsu smacked him, "Quiet! It's up to Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade cleared her throat and tried to look as professional as she could. Shizune was looking at her suspiciously when she bit her lip. "Number 1- what's your name?"

"K-Kio, Tsunade-sama," the boy stuttered. "Yes," she said. "Kio. Well, I'll go easy on you today. Just hurry and finish the mission reports before 6."

"Oh thank you, Tsunade-sama!" he said bowing. "Thank y-"

"Hold on!" she said, holding up a hand to silence him. His eyes widened in fear. "In addition…you must…finish my paperwork!"

"…" Shizune's eyes narrowed and Tsunade laughed nervously, ducking behind her desk as if she didn't see the look on her apprentice's face. She looked in her drawer and gave the boy a folder filled with paper.

"No need to thank me!" Tsunade said as the boy opened his mouth. He bowed and scurried away, making sure to avoid eye contact with Kotetsu who left too. Tsunade hurried out, ignoring the look Shizune gave her.

"Tsunade-sam-"

"I'm tired Shizune! Talk to me tomorrow!" Tsunade pretended to be busy with the keys as she locked the door after Genma and Shizune came out. She all but ran down the hallway with Shizune following, looking angry and Genma pulling up the rear, looking amused. Shizune hurried in front of Tsunade, "You know that I-"

"You're going out with Genma, I know," Tsunade said, earning a blush from Shizune again. "Here!" She shoved some money in Shizune's hand. "I assume you're going out tonight right? It's on me. I feel sort of guilty for telling Anko so feel free to use that! Ja ne!" And then with a burst of chakra, Tsunade was gone and out of the door, leaving Shizune standing there in the dust with her mouth open. Genma quietly came up from behind, closing her mouth gently as he stood next to her, "So?"

"What?" She asked. He grinned, "How much did she give you!?" "Hm…" Shizune, still in shock, absentmindedly counted the money. "(insert number that equals 50 dollars) yen."

"Oh shit!" Genma grabbed Shizune's hand and ran out the door. "We're eating out tonight!"

* * *

**I'm so sorry! I know, that was such a weird place to end it but I had nowhere else to so I just did. I'm sure you've seen weirder endings though, right? I know I have. So leave a review please! Before I have to send Deidara, Sasori, Fishstick and Itachi after you. Next chapter is where the Naruto crew sees their new house and the Sand sibs come in! Oh and about yen: If anyone knows how it relates to U.S money, could you tell me? I really don't know anything about it. Okay thanks. Next chapter coming soon.**


	2. Living Arrangements

**To answer the question of a reviewer; this is semi-AU because they're all closer than they seem to be in the show and Sai won't be acknowledged. It technically takes place in Shippuden because they're all that age but a few things are changed. Sasuke was brought back (a little against his own will, mostly voluntarily) a year and a half after Part I so they would have been about 14/15 when that happened. This fic is very very minor crack in the way that it completely ignores the war and troubling situations like Madara, the Jinchuriki, etc. Akatsuki won't be mentioned at all. Maybe in passing by the characters but otherwise, no. Missions may or may not be included. It depends on feedback/ideas from reviewers. A few details will be tweaked here and there that will come up as we go along.**

* * *

**When Tsunade's Bored**

**Chapter 2: Living Arrangements**

Tap, tap, tap! _Knock, knock! __**Slam**__! __**Smash!**_

"Ooops!"

Sakura groaned and sat up. "Okay, who broke my window _this_ time?! Ino or Naruto!?" she shouted groggily as she opened her eyes.

"Both," came two voices. A third drawled in a clearly annoyed voice, "Blondes are so troublesome."

"Hey, it's not my fault we did it in the same place at the same time…and I added some chakra to it," Ino added sheepishly. Sakura could just see Shikamaru rolling his eyes as he muttered again, "Troublesome."

Sakura flopped back down on her bed and rolled over. She was half asleep when she heard three quiet thuds as her friends jumped in her room. She heard some footsteps and then some scrapings that told her Ino had taken it upon herself to pick out Sakura's clothes while another crash told her that Naruto had no doubt broken another window or something glass made. A final thud and she knew instantly that Shikamaru had carelessly fallen into the only chair in her room. Hm…she knew them too well. Maybe living together wouldn't be so hard after all.

Silence.

Sakura sat up hurriedly, eyes wide and looking around frantically, "Did one of you guys die or something?! You were so quiet!"

Ino looked up from the outfit she was holding, "Ha ha. Very funny."

"I'm bored Sakura-channnn!" Naruto whined as he plopped down on the floor and looked up at her. Shikamaru hm'ed in agreement. Ino tsked and shook her head as she mumbled to herself, "No…no, this won't do. Hm…maybe the black with some pink? …And maybe those open toed shoes…? Hm."

Sakura blinked. _That actually doesn't sound so bad but when the hell did I get a fashion consultant?!_ "Alright, that's it!" she shouted. They all looked at her as if she had grown two heads. She glared, "GET. OUT!"

"Fine, fine," Naruto grumbled. "Don't have to be so mean."

"Yeah…troublesome," three guesses who.

"…" Ino was still trying to figure out what shoes would look the best when a pillow collided with the back of her head. She turned around with a huff and glared at Sakura who stood with a pillow in her hand, "What? Can't you see this is important?! I mean, goodness forehead. Have some consideration for othe-"

_Whump_!

Sakura retracted her arm holding the pillow and glared menacingly at her friend. Ino smiled. "Okay. But I have to ask you something later," she said seriously and Sakura would've scoffed if she hadn't seen the look on Ino's face. She gulped as she nodded slightly to show that she heard.

Thirty minutes later after Sakura had gotten a shower and something to eat, she, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Ino were on their way to Tsunade's office.

* * *

"Ohayo, Hinata-chan!" Tenten greeted with a small wave of her hand as Hinata opened the door. Said girl smiled and stepped aside to let Tenten in, "Hello, Tenten-chan."

"Is Neji up yet?" Tenten asked as she came in. She placed her bags down on the floor and looked upwards as if she could see through the ceiling into Neji's room.

"N-no, he's still sleeping b-but- Tenten-chan!" Hinata hurriedly followed after her friend as she raced up the stairs. "He doesn't like to be woken up by people when he's tired," she said. "It would be better if we knocked."

Tenten grinned at her friend, "Aw! You're so polite!" She completely ignored Hinata's words and kicked open Neji's door. "Rise and shine, Neji!" She said cheerfully. She sweatdropped when he didn't move. She glared and walked over to the window, pulling open the shades. "Oops," she said as she remembered that Neji's room was where there were no trees and nothing to block the sun, which shone directly into his window.

"Aargh! The pain," Neji rolled over onto his stomach and placed the pillow over his head. When Tenten finally closed the windows, he emerged and glared at her, "Do you know how much worse my Byakugan made that?! Damnit, Tenten, what's wrong with you?!"

"Um…good morning?" she said, wondering why he slept with his Byakugan activated anyway. He glared and she winced slightly. She put on a happy grin, "Well, let's get going!"

"…" Neji didn't say anything and just glared into the backs of the two girls as they walked out. He sighed and slowly got dressed. He looked in the mirror and frowned. Was that a SPLIT END!?

"Neji, hurry up and stop acting like a girl!" he heard Tenten yell. He cursed quietly. How the hell had she known?! "Cause I know you, that's why!"

"…" It was like she had her own little Byakugan. "Damn right!"

"...creepy," Neji murmured to himself. He got a few bags full of clothes and his boxes full of his possessions. He stepped out of the room, rolling his eyes as Tenten giggled. "Hinata, do you have all your bags?"

"Hai, Neji-niisan," Hinata replied. He nodded, "Then let's go."

"I told Lee we'd meet him at the end of his street," Tenten said. Neji scowled, grabbing a nutrition bar before he walked out the door, the two girls following.

"Good morning, youthful teammates! What a beautiful morning, is it not?!" Lee said, bouncing up and down. Hinata nodded and smiled slightly. Tenten just shook her head, "…sure." Neji just continued walking. "Psst! Tenten, what is wrong with Neji?" Lee tried to whisper and failed miserably. Tenten bit back a laugh and told him 'nothing' as Neji bit savagely into the nutrition bar and concentrated on the road ahead of them. "Are you sure he's okay?! He has a look that resembles one of constipation!" He said, still stage whispering. Tenten burst out laughing at the pissed off Neji. Hinata restrained him, "N-Neji-niisan! Calm down."

"Ahh!"

"Neji, get off, you're hur-!"

"Neji-niisan! I think you hurt-"

"Damnit! That was my foot, you jerk!"

"Omfg!"

"Ahh!"

"Ow, my eye!"

Whirrr zing

"Tenten-chan watch out!"

"Yes, youthful flower. You must be caref-"

"Mmphf!"

So, what basically happened was: Neji, after being called constipated, tried to attack Lee, Lee screamed and hid behind Tenten, Neji stepped on Tenten's foot and got her mad, she unleashed some weapons and Lee hid behind Hinata (screaming again), poking her in the eye in the process as Neji tried to get out of the way of the weapons. Tenten kept coming, but tripped over a bag right as Hinata and Lee warned her and she landed on Neji and they ended up kissing! Ain't constipation great?!

Tenten yanked her face away from Neji's, her eyes wide. She fixed the bun on the right side of her head, which had started coming out, not noticing anything else. Neji was blushing and so was Hinata while Lee was ranting on about youthful love. She put her hands back down and looked down at Neji curiously as she tilted her head, "Neji? What's wrong?"

"T-Tenten-chan…l-look where you're sitting," Hinata felt the need to whisper. Tenten did as she was told and flushed again as she gasped. Neji was on his back, slightly sitting up. His shirt was pushed up to show his toned abs and stomach and she turned even redder as she realized that that was where her hands currently were. Her legs were straddling his waist and their faces were still extremely close. Tenten's shirt was sort of disheveled. It was hanging off her shoulder slightly and one side was riding up so it showed her hip and also Neji's hand, which was resting there. "…Um…"

In another matter of seconds, Neji and Tenten had stood up, avoiding each other's gazes. They still had slight blushes as they picked up their bags and continued on their way. They arrived at the Hokage Tower to see Shikamaru, Sakura, Ino, and Naruto already there and Tsunade nowhere in sight.

* * *

"Come on Shino!" Kiba yelled, Akamaru barking in agreement as Shino opened the door.

"…" Shino stared at them. Kiba looked sheepish.

"Sorry," he said. He tried again. "Good morning, Shino, buddy!" he said, Akamaru barked again. "You ready?"

Shino nodded, getting his bags and a few boxes. They started walking, Kiba talking about a lot of stuff while Shino just nodded occasionally.

* * *

"Oi! Look who I saw on the way!" Chouji said, stuffing his mouth with some chips as he turned the corner. Following him was Temari, Gaara and Kankuro and another girl who was slightly behind Gaara and Temari.

"Gaara!" Naruto ran up to his best friend who acknowledged him with a wave of his hand.

"And look, Temari!" Sakura said, though Ino and Tenten didn't share her enthusiasm. They just rolled their eyes.

"So…who's that," Kiba pointed, the only one to notice the girl. She stepped in full view, shyly. She looked up at the sand siblings expectantly but Gaara nodded slightly. She blushed and turned to the others, "O-ohayo…my name is Matsuri. I train under Gaara-sensei."

"Aw, she's so cute!" Ino squealed. Tenten rolled her eyes, "She's like the same age as us."

"Hey! I remember you! You helped Gaara and me when those guys brought that one thing back to life!" Naruto said excitedly.

"Oh…that was specific," Sasuke said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. Sakura glared, "That's because there was no reason to be specific. Everyone knows what he's talking about…except you. You were with that bastard Orochimaru," she spat out.

"…" Sasuke looked away and the atmosphere immediately turned tense.

Everyone was surprised when Naruto smiled softly. "Now we know what Baa-chan meant, ne? Anyway, ohayo, Matsuri-chan! Welcome to Konoha again!"

"Um…arigato, Naruto," Matsuri said.

"What did Tsunade say?" Kankuro asked curiously. He tugged at the ear on his suit absentmindedly and he looked very much like a cat. Temari rolled her eyes and smacked his hand away. She hated when he did that.

"Oh…we have to live together now," Kiba said, grinning slightly at Temari when she slapped her brother. "In one big house. So…what are you guys doing here?"

"Yeah…what brings _you_ to Konoha?" Ino said as she looked at Temari, almost as if it was her fault they were there in the first place.

"_Well_," Temari said, also facing Ino. "We're taking a long needed vacation and Tsunade-sama is helping us with technical matters involving Gaara and the open position as Kazekage."

"…Oh?" Shikamaru asked. "What about?"

"Oh…just some stuff," Temari waved a hand in some vague direction and Shikamaru rolled his eyes, deciding it was too troublesome to pursue the topic. "Anyways, if we're going the same way, why don't we go together?"

"Oh…that's oka-" Tenten started to say.

"We might as well…seeing as how we'd see each other anyway," Shino stated. Kiba stared at him in amazement, "…Shino…I think that's the longest sentence you've ever spoken in front of a group of people."

"…" Shino turned and started walking away. One by one by twos by fives, the rest started following.

"So…Shikamaru, how's life been treating you?" Temari smirked. "Not still a crybaby, are you?"

Shikamaru smirked too. "Troublesome."

Ino, walked behind them, watching this exchange and glaring, _What the hell is she doing!?_

_**SHE'S TRYING TO STEAL OUR SHIKI-KUN!**_

I always sorta preferred Shik_a_-kun more…hm. Wait just one effin minute! Since when is he mine?! I don't care if that little sandy, slutty, wind…y whore talks to him… I'm not jealous!

_**-.- I never said you were. (grinning) Are you hiding something?**_

_Yeah well…hey look! Muffins!_

_**Where?!**_

Ino quickly left the conversation with her inner and turned to Tenten who was walking next to her. "Ten…I don't like her," she stated, throwing another glare into the back of Temari.

"I know, Ino…I know. But there's noth- OMFG! What if Tsunade's planning on putting them in a house with us?!" Tenten burst out loudly but somehow quiet enough for only Ino to hear…even though it echoed in the streets. Ah…being a ninja has its advantages. They don't have to follow the laws of physics.

"Nah…Tsunade wouldn't do that…" Ino trailed off. _Would she? What if-_ She shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts, "No she couldn't! They're not even Leaf Ninja so she can't do anything. I mean, they're not even part of this country."

"Hm…" Tenten tapped her lip in thought, realized that it was her lip and promptly removed her finger, blushing slightly. Ino looked at her oddly, "What…was that about?" Tenten jumped as if she just remembered she was walking with someone, "What was what about?" she said too quickly. Ino looked at her suspiciously and then just dropped it with a shrug, ignoring the obvious sigh of relief coming from her friend. "But damn, I hate her!"

"I kno-" Tenten was cut off as Sakura turned around sharply, Hinata following her example. Sakura looked at them sternly, "You guys leave Temari-chan alone! She is not that bad…" and she continued to lecture them, her eyes closed and her finger pointing to the sky in her little 'I know everything' stance. Ino and Tenten got behind her, pointing their fingers up and making exaggerated faces as Hinata struggled not to giggle. "And-are you listening?!"

"Of course, Sakura-chan," Tenten said innocently.

"What'd I say, then?!" Sakura demanded.

"Oh…you know," Ino said. She looked at her dryly, "the usual."

"What the hell's that suppo-"

"We're here!" Tenten said loudly, grabbing Ino and running for the door. Hinata giggled and turned to her other friend, "Sakura-chan, don't get mad at them." Sakura sighed, "I won't. They'll probably never like Temari-chan, anyway." Hinata nodded.

* * *

"Okay, now that we have that cleared out," Tsunade said to the Sand Siblings. She turned to the rest of the Chuunin and continued, "They'll be living with you now."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ino fell to her knees in anguish. Tenten rushed up to her, "Ino," she whispered. "Think of all the possibilities…There's a golden lining on every cloud."

Ino blinked. "Isn't it _silver_ lining?"

"No…no, I think _this _will be a golden lining," Tenten grinned devilishly and Ino shuddered, thinking of what would happen if Tenten were grinning about her.

She wandered into a different train of thought. One that involved a lot of ranting. _I thought she wanted us to get better! Doesn't she realize that this is cruel and unusual punishment?!_

_**-sobbing- What the hell are we supposed to do now?! Temari might get close to Shiki-kun! She'll steal him from us and we'll never be able to kiss him and-**_

_THE HELL?! Are you insane! I don't like Shika! Okay?! He's my best friend. Gosh! _Ino locked her inner in a soundproof box and threw it in a lake._ We weren't told Suna was allowed in on this. Stupid country can't arrange their own freaking events? …That Tsunade! I'll get her for this, damnit!_

"You have a few minutes before we head down to your new homes so…make yourself comfy, I guess?" Tsunade didn't wait for an answer and walked back inside the tower that they had just come out of, humming "Stayin Alive." Everyone sweatdropped.

"Sakura," Ino called her best friend over. The rosette looked curiously at the blond but came over anyway and waited for her to say what she had to. "What's up with you and Sasuke?"

"…" Sakura looked at Ino. "I don't know what you're talking about," she stated. Tenten, seeing Ino glaring, decided right then and there that she didn't want to be in this, grabbed Hinata and went to go bother Neji.

"Don't give me that bull!" Ino snapped, slightly hurt. "Why do you always underestimate me? I'm your best friend and I know there's something wrong. Now tell me before I go inside your mind!"

"You wouldn't dare," Sakura glared at Ino fiercely. "You're terrified of my inner."

"Yeah, well I got one of my own, damnit!" Ino said, glaring back. _**HELLS YEAH!**_

Sakura stared at her friend a moment longer before her eyes softened and she relented. "Fine, what do you want to know?"

"Why don't you call him Sasuke_-kun_ anymore?" Ino demanded. Sakura sighed and she immediately saddened, "I hate the fact that I ever felt anything towards him." The blond girl shot her a questioning look. She continued, "It hurt too much. He was too cold and so distant. I…It just…it'll always hurt knowing that he left us, that we weren't enough, that I wasn't enough. I'd feel that way if it were anyone," Sakura smiled and poked her friend's forehead, "Even you." Ino looked at her friend, sympathetically. " Plus, I'm just plain mad at him, the jerk. Leaving not just me but everyone here in Konoha. All the people who wanted him to be happy. He's so lucky I wasn't there to fight him until the very end because I would've killed him."

Ino nodded, not having any doubt in her mind that she would've. She gave her friend a short hug, "It's okay, Sakura. You could always find someone else! There are plenty of fish in the sea. You'll get over him."

"Yeah, I know," Sakura said. She smiled sadly, _But I'll probably always feel inadequate when it comes to him._

She sighed and stayed where she was as Ino wandered off. She leaned against the wall as she let her thoughts drift over to the cause of her pain in the first place. She glared at the back of his head. She hated that boy. Sigh. But not really. Said boy turned around, sensing something and raised an eyebrow at her. Sakura glared coldly at him and then followed Ino to where she was.

"Sasuke-teme! Are you listening!?" Naruto punched Sasuke's arm. Sasuke turned back to the hyper boy and glared, "What dobe?"

"I was saying I wonder if we'll have to share rooms," Naruto said. "I'm pranking whoever I share with!" Kiba grinned, coming up behind Naruto, "Got that right."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "God help us all," he muttered as he walked away from the two of them. He definitely did not want to be with them. Or, come to think about it, Gaara…or Neji, Lee, Chouji, Ino, Temari, Kankuro, Tenten and although he wouldn't mind usually, he most certainly didn't want to be with Sakura. She was being too…weird around him ever since he came back. Who knows what could happen? Her mood swings were scary.

Sasuke's imagination

"_Hey Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said gleefully with a smile on her face._

"_Hn…hello," Sasuke replied, holding a hand up. Sakura's face changed drastically and she glared at him._

"_Go die, fucking bastard!" Sakura punched Sasuke out of a window where he landed on a well-placed knife. Sakura rushed down to him, "Are you okay, Sasuke-kun?!"_

Sasuke shivered. That was scary. The only okay ones were Hinata and Shino. But even they were annoying. Shino never talked and Hinata stuttered too much. It made him want to give her shock therapy every time she did it.

"Hey, Naruto," Kiba said, suddenly thinking of something. "What if we had to share rooms? You wouldn't prank me would you?"

"Never," Naruto said solemnly. "The resulting war would be too epic. There is always a line to pranking."

After Kiba pounded fists with him, he added with a grin, "Plus teaming up is more fun and allows way more targets without any real consequences."

"Alright, let's get going!" Tsunade said, a huge grin on her face and a second set of keys in her hand. "I can't wait. Where the hell are your senseis?"

"Yo," Kakashi held a hand up in greeting. Kurenai rolled her eyes and Asuma just blew out a puff of smoke.

"Youthful greetings!" Gai said exuberantly.

"Let's go!" Tsunade said and they started following after her.

The group was quiet, in their own thoughts as they passed many different districts. They finally came to a less crowded one. It had a calm, peaceful atmosphere and the houses were spread out a little more. There were less people around and it wasn't bustling with the sound of shouting every other minute. The teens immediately relaxed.

The clouds were exceptionally fluffy today. A lazy grin appeared on Shikamaru's face. _Munch munch_. He glanced at Chouji and then his gaze went back to the sky. "Shikamaru, this is going to be a nightmare."

"I know. Girls and their hormones. Kiba and Naruto. Sasuke. It's too much," Shikamaru grumbled. His friend offered him the bag and he took a chip from it gratefully.

"Who's going to cook for us?" Chouji whined. "I already miss my mother's cooking."

"Yeah. My mother is one of the most troublesome women I know but she did most of the chores," Shikamaru pouted, "Now I'll have to take care of everything."

"Don't worry. Ino will be there to take care of you."

Shikamaru scoffed, "It'll be me taking care of her, believe me. Or me following all her orders. It all amounts to the same thing. Of course…Tsunade does have two sets of keys. Maybe we won't have to live with her."

"Yeah but if we don't live with her, there are still five other girls. I say it's better to stick with the familiar danger," Chouji said wisely before eating another handful of chips. "Besides, you would never leave her alone if she asked."

Shikamaru grimaced, then nodded reluctantly, "It'll be incredibly troublesome, but at least one of us has to do it."

He put his hands behind his head. "Yo!" Naruto came up from behind and clapped them both on the back. "What'cha guys talking about!?"

"About who we want to be in a house with," Shikamaru said. He glanced around as they walked down a dirt road, lined with a white fence and trees. "Where are we? I've never seen this place before."

Naruto and Chouji also looked confused. Naruto scrunched up his face in what they assumed was confusion and anger, "Where the hell is that baa-chan taking us?!"

"I've been here before!" Kiba declared, a satisfied smirk on his face. "This is a different part of Konoha;People don't come here often. It's a district where people who want quiet live. Or people who are training a lot and don't want anyone to know about their jutsus, stuff like that. Basically, people who need to hide."

"So," Naruto narrowed his eyes and then grinned. "Why were _you_ here?"

"None of your business!" Kiba snapped, blushing ever so slightly. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and turned away from the two. They were just like brothers sometimes, always bickering and yelling together. It was "Troublesome," he muttered. Chouji nodded, eating another handful of chips. "WHAT!?" Kiba and Naruto exclaimed indignantly as they glared at the lazy genius. He grinned, "You're so troublesome."

"Arrgh, Shikamaru!" they both said. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and he and Chouji both walked a little ways ahead of the two.

"Hey, does anyone know where we are?" Tenten asked confused, turning her gaze away from the four boys who were a good ways behind them.

"I think I've been here, Ten," Ino said, looking around for a familiar landmark. "Mom showed me where to get really beautiful wild flowers here. People don't come here often. It's a quiet district. It's also pretty small; only about fifty houses even stand over here."

"Hm…I heard Kiba say something about being here once," Tenten mumbled, partly to herself. "I wonder what he was doing here. He couldn't have wanted quiet."

"Kiba-kun ran away when he was little and had a crying fit when he was beat by Naruto-kun in the Chuunin exams," Hinata said. They looked at her incredulously. Sakura sputtered, "Are you serious?!"

Hinata giggled, "No, I'm just kidding. Kiba-kun likes to come up here away from everyone, even Akamaru. He said he gets all his quiet out."

"Only he would actually go somewhere to get _quiet_ out," Ino laughed. "But seriously? Kiba never struck me as the type to go ANYwhere calming to just think. Who knew he even had a brain to think with in the first place?"

Sakura smacked Ino on the arm because of her rudeness.

"You and me both, Ino," Tenten said, ignoring Sakura's disapproving glance. "And without Akamaru!"

"Wow…you think you know someone…" Sakura said. "Well…I guess Tsunade-shishou wasn't so crazy as we thought she was. I mean, to tell you the truth, I actually thought it was one of her ideas induced by boredom and sake but I see I was wrong now."

Up front, Tsunade grinned, "They all know me too well. Oi! Hurry up! We're almost there!"

Everyone sped up their paces so that they were all grouped behind Tsunade who was walking much faster now. "Here we are!"

Everyone looked in awe at the place from the small hill they were on. Kiba summed it up in one word. "Whoa…"

The place was huge. From their perch atop the small hill, there was a pathway leading towards two houses. From their view, the houses were on their left and across from the houses on the right was a forest. They tried to see past the forest but all they could make out was a tiny block of brown and tan. Behind the two tall buildings, they could just make out a shimmering, blue pool. The houses' fresh cut lawns only went to a certain point. After that, wild, slightly tall grass grew freely, wild flowers and a few trees dispersed within. A small lawn with a few trees and bushes growing here and there separated the houses. Overall, it was beautiful. It had everything. There was enough shade for those hot summer days but enough sunlight too if it was cool out. In the middle of the wild grass was a small pond and stream that disappeared into the forest.

"Well…" Tsunade sighed, feeling immensely proud. "Let's get going!"

"Alright!" Kiba and Naruto yelled. Everyone all but ran and the few _dignified_ people (lazy and/or egotistical) like Shikamaru, Gaara, Sasuke, Neji, and Shino walked slowly, hiding their eagerness.

As they started down the trail, they noticed that there was another path that branched off and into the forest, probably to what they saw on the other side.

"What's on the other side of the forest?" Sakura asked.

"None of your business," Tsunade said. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "It's obvious that it's where the senseis are going to live." He scoffed but then quickly stood behind Ino and Sakura as Tsunade glared at him.

"Okay, so for the most part, you guys can live with whoever you want," Tsunade said. Everyone looked at her, sensing more to the sentence. "But," she continued and audible groans emitted from their mouths. "But...there will be some rules. Like, a whole team can't be together. The sand team has to split, two and two."

Here the four teens split up, Temari and Kankuro going to one side and Matsuri and Gaara going to the other. Temari smirked at Gaara teasingly, secretly happy that he had picked Matsuri. Gaara just stared blankly back, crossing his arms.

"And certain people can't be together-"

"Like Naruto and Kiba?" Ino asked hopefully, grinning when the two aforementioned boys glared at her.

"No, like _you_ and _Sakura_," Tsunade said. Ino's grin dropped from her face and her eyebrows furrowed as she got ready to protest. Tsunade held up a hand and silenced her at once. "It's going to be chaotic enough with all you people arguing over your differences. _You_ two argue and you don't even _have_ differences. We don't need to add to the chaos by putting you two in the same house. Same goes for Naruto and Sasuke. Oh yeah and Neji and Hinata, you can't be together."

"What? Why?!" Neji exclaimed. Hinata looked at him weirdly, slowly stepping away from him. Tenten grinned at the sight. "I have to protect her and-"

"And that's exactly why," Tsunade continued as if he wasn't just talking. "Hinata is an excellent ninja and a great person but she needs more confidence. And if I take her away from you, and put her into an unfamiliar setting, she might get some. But she won't ever grow if there's someone there to protect her."

"…Fine," Neji grumbled, glaring at the laughing Tenten.

"Now that we've settled all that," Tsunade said. Everyone tensed slightly. "Everyone pick their roommates…NOW!" She shouted, watching in amusement as everyone scrambled around, trying to get to all their friends.

Ino grabbed Tenten at the same time as Sakura grabbed Hinata. They stuck their tongues out at each other and stalked away, dragging the other two in their wake. Naruto and Kiba rushed for each other while Shikamaru and Neji glanced at each other, shrugged and stayed where they were. They were too good to run around for other people. The people would come to them. It seemed that was proven right, "Shika, you're living with me!" Ino said. Shikamaru shrugged as she and Tenten came over to the two.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and stood against a tree, behind Sakura who was talking to Hinata. He sighed. It looked like he was going to be with her after all. Not that he really minded. He had, as much as he didn't want to admit…he had missed her. And normally he would've been content but now Sakura seemed like she hated him. And he didn't like it.

"Let's go," Gaara said, tugging at Matsuri's arm as he walked over to Sakura. Sasuke looked up and after glancing over the two, went back to staring into space. He didn't care if Gaara was there. He was a fellow sane person so he couldn't be bad. Sasuke was actually kind of glad that there was one other sane(stoic) person like him. That thought, however was quickly discarded as Sakura got up, "Gaara!" she squealed happily and hugged him. Sasuke's face hardened and his eyes narrowed when he saw that Gaara smiled softly and hugged her back! "Hey, Sakura."

What. The. Hell!? What was that?! Sasuke looked at Sakura's smiling face. Since when did she EVER smile at anyone but him like that? Her jade eyes were sparkling with happiness and…Wait, Sasuke calmed down slightly. Why was he acting like this? I mean, sure he considered her one of his few friends. And sure he had missed her when he was with that snake bastard but he was acting like he was_ jealous_. And Sasuke Uchiha did _not_ get jealous. But why wasn't she speaking to him but to Gaara?

"Shika, why are you and Neji together?" Ino asked.

Shikamaru grimaced and Neji scowled. "Don't say that!" Shikamaru snapped. "That sounds like we're two…lovers!"

Ino rolled her eyes. "See, if you had said that about me and Tenten, we wouldn't have taken it that way. You two have your minds in the gutter." Neji narrowed his eyes, "You know we don't! That's because people don't say that about you two. But those yaoi fangirls love the image of us together. Remember that one girl? What was her name?"

"Aki," Shikamaru shuddered.

"Hey Aki-chan's nice!" Ino said. "And Shikamaru, we were like best friends with her in that one fanfic. Too bad _she's_ not here."

"Yeah…well, she thought me and Neji were sexy together. That's unforgivable," Shikamaru said.

"Whatever…and you two would look pretty hot…" Ino trailed off as the two boys glared at her. "Never mind."

"Oh snap, I just now noticed Lee's all alone," Tenten said.

"Hn…" Neji didn't feel the need to give her a real response. Tenten glared at him, "You should go with him."

"Hn…there is no way I am living with that idiot," Neji stated.

"But Neji-" Neji turned away from her, crossing his arms. She glared, "Fine! _I'll _go live with him." Neji narrowed his eyes and grabbed her wrist. "No."

"Yes, I'll just-"

"No," Neji said again. "You'll mess up the balance because Shikamaru and me decided to form an alliance and Shikamaru wants to be with Ino who wants to be with you therefore if you were with Lee, the whole thing would be thrown off because the whole team can't be together." Tenten glared at him. "Fine," she grumbled. It wasn't that she was really mad at him. It was just the fact that he was right.

"What do you even need an alliance," here Ino made a goofy face and used air quotes, "for anyway?"

Neji and her had a brief glaring contest which was broken when she stuck her tongue out at him. He smirked and looked away in victory.

"Yo, guys!" Naruto and Kiba came over and Ino mentally smacked herself. Damnit! Temari and Kankuro came over a second later. Double Damnit. Ino and Tenten exchanged annoyed glances.

Tsunade looked in amusement at the two groups. _Well…this was unexpected. I guess the first bet goes to Anko. Hm… _Tsunade looked up at the senseis, "This is going to be interesting," she smirked. "Oh and by the way, Anko won."

"Oh man, how the hell did she know that Tenten, Ino, Shikamaru, Temari and Kiba would be in one house?!" Asuma complained, digging into his pocket and pulling out a hundred bucks. The other senseis did so also.

"Anyway," Tsunade said, after pocketing the money and adopting a stern look. "I need you to…"

"What is it, youthful Tsunade-sama? Is it a youthful challenge?" Gai asked.

"To..."

"Yes?" Asuma said, joining Gai with a curious expression on his face.

"To…

"Yeesssssss?" The senseis leaned closer.

"Oh…damn! I forgot!" Tsunade said. They deadpanned. "Oh well, after this you guys have to pack! You're going to your new house too!" The senseis groaned and the happy atmosphere around them was immediately destroyed. Tsunade rolled her eyes and looked again at the two groups. On one side, Ino and Tenten were talking, occasionally whispering and shooting dirty looks at Temari while said girl flirted with Shikamaru who was ignoring her and talking to Neji who was rolling his eyes at Kiba and Naruto who were now bothering Ino while Kankuro laughed in the background and Tenten glared at him.

"…" Tsunade sweatdropped but then grinned. Oh yes, this'll be entertaining. She glanced at the other team. Sasuke was looking at Gaara who was talking to Matsuri and occasionally Sakura, who was also talking to Naruto. Hinata was sitting next to Sakura, talking when prompted. Shino and Chouji were listening to Lee rant about youth with Chouji occasionally swatting bugs away from his chips. Tsunade didn't say anything. Not very interesting…unless of course you have a skilled eye for drama and saw the undertones. Sasuke wasn't looking at Gaara but more _glaring_ at him. Gaara was smirking as Sakura talked to him, not because he particularly _liked_ the conversation but because he could sense the Uchiha's tenseness. And Matsuri, seeing the smirk, thought the worse and promptly looked away, looking saddened. And then there was Hinata who was just looking at Naruto, a rather dazed expression on her face. And Lee, the most naïve of them all, was the only one to notice anything, if not everything.

"Okay! Attention: Now that you guys have chosen your groups," Tsunade shouted and they looked over curiously. "It's time for you to pick your houses. One has three floors. The other is a split-level with a basement. Take your pick." The two groups shrugged. Naruto's group went over to the one with three floors and Gaara's went to the other one.

"I think this is the start of some beautiful relationship…things," Tsunade finished awkwardly. She smiled as she watched the young shinobi file into the two houses, looking happy and a little excited. "Yee-up," she sighed, very satisfied with herself. "This is one of the greatest ideas I've had. This'll really work out for the best."

"If you say so," Kakashi said skeptically. He squinted at the two houses as though expecting them to explode at any moment.

"Yeah, he's right, Tsunade-sama," Kurenai said. "The results might be beautiful but for now…it's going to be ugly. Very, very ugly."

"Quite atrocious," Asuma added his two-cents.

"Nah, I have good instinct when it comes to things like this," Tsunade boasted, flapping her hands and shooing away their "dumb" input. "You just watch. Everything will work out for the-

**Skiiiiiiiiddddddd! CRASH!  
**

"DAMN YOU SHINO!"

"…"

"HEY! I WANTED THAT ROOM YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

"G-guys…m-maybe w-we should calm d-down and-"

"YEAH? …WELL THAT'S TOO BAD! I DON'T GIVE A SHIT!"

"APOLOGIZE FOR CUTTING HINATA OFF, SASUKE!" **POW! BAM! SMASH!**

"…ow…groan."

"THAT'S MY ROOM!"

"FUNNY…I DON'T SEE YOUR _NAME_ ANYWHERE!"

"GRRRRRRRR YOU SAW ME HEADING TOWARDS IT, KIBA!"

"YEAH…BUT IS YOUR _NAME THERE_?!"

"YOURS ISN'T EITHER!"

"…God…this is so troubleso- OH MY FUCKING GOD! INO PUT THE STEAK KNIFE DOWN!"

"NEVER!"

"AIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEE!"

"OMG, NARUTO! ARE YOU OKAY!"

"MY ARM! OH…I DON'T THINK I'M GONNA MAKE IT."

"OH SHUT IT AND GET THE HELL UP. SHE MISSED IF YOU HADN'T _NOTICED_."

"BARK BARK!"

"OH MY GOD. MY EYES! EW, AND THIS PISS STINKS!"

"DUH! IT'S PISS!"

"BARK BARK!"

"GOOD JOB AKAMARU!"

"SABAKU KYUUU!"

"AAHHHHHHH! I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS! I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS!"

"…That's my room. Now allow my sand to escort you out."

"…Um…I guess this is my room."

"YEAH, I GUESS SO, YOU LUCKY BITCH!"

"HEY! DON'T CALL MY SISTER A LUCKY BITCH YOU LOUD BITCH!"

"AAARGGHHHH! YOU WANNA TAKE THIS OUTSIDE BARBIE BOY!?"

"GRRR! BARBIE BOY!? BRING IT ON!"

"OH ITS ALREADY BROUGHT!"

"THEN SERVE IT!"

"I WILL!" **SLAM! SMASH!**

"Ooh…the wall didn't look like it had iron underneath it…ow…"

"Hehehehe! That was so funny! Omg, you shoulda seen it, Shika!"

"I was right…there."

"Ino was all pow boom crash and puppet dude was all ow and bam and boom and-"

"Shut. Up."

"NO YOU SHUT UP, YOU BLIND FREAK!"

"I AM NOT BLIND, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE. NOW SHUT THE HELL UP BEFORE I KAITEN YOUR ASS ACROSS THE GLOBE!"

"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!"

"COME OVER HERE AND I'LL SUCCEED!"

"NEJI! NO, DON'T DO THAT!. OH MY GOD! THAT POOR DOG! NEJI, YOU FREAKIN IDIOT. WHY DID YOU JUST BLAST AKAMARU INTO THE EFFIN WALL!?"

"Tenten….do NOT reprimand me when I DIDN'T KNOW THAT THE ASSHOLE WOULD DECIDE TO USE HIS DOG LIKE THE PUNK HE IS!"

"WHO YOU CALLIN A PUNK, PUNK?"

"IDIOT!"

"FOOL!"

"WHO?!"

"YOU!"

"YOU KNOW WHAT?!"

"CHICKEN BUTT! GUESS WHY!"

"CHICKEN THIGH! GUESS THE REST!"

"CHICKEN BREA-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP! GOD, YOU GUYS AREN'T MAKING ANY SENSE!"

"Damn, Ino…when you scream you really…OH MY GOD HIT THE DECK! NOW _**TENTEN'S**_GOT THE STEAK KNIFE!

"AAHHHH!

"OOH! DID I JUST HEAR THAT YOUTHFUL TENTEN IS MAKING THEM FOOD WITH A STEAK KNIFE?! YOUTHFUL TENTEN! I WANT SOME STEAK!"

"There's food?!"

"SHUT UP!"

"I hate today!"

"OF COURSE YOU DO MR. EMO AVENGER! GO DO US ALL A FAVOR AND CRAWL INTO A CORNER AND GO CUT YOURSELF UNTIL YOU DIE!"

"S-Sakura-chan…I-I don't th-think that was v-very nice."

"OH, WHO GIVES A FUCK ANYMORE!?"

"S-sakura-chan!"

"EVERYONE JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!" Ino, Naruto, Tenten, Chouji, and surprisingly Shino yelled.

"-best…" Tsunade finished lamely. "Okay…maybe not. Oh well, let's go!"

"What?!" the senseis exclaimed. They looked pointedly at the houses; one was smoking.

"I have to go get some forms. They're all going to have to fill out a lot of contracts," Tsunade explained. "A lot indeed."

"Oh yeah and I have to call Anko," Tsunade said as in the distance, screaming was heard. She brought a cell phone out of her pocket and dialed the number.

"Hello?" Anko's voice was heard.

"Hey! It's me," Tsunade smiled and began walking away from the chaos. The senseis turned to follow her, glancing back at the houses uneasily.

"Oh hey."

"Yeah, so just wanted to let you know that you won the first bet!"

"Alright! So, you have my 200 bucks right?"

"Eheheh…hold that thought," Tsunade turned the phone off and looked nervously at the four glaring senseis.

"You said it was one hundred dollars each not 50!"

"Gotta run!"

* * *

**Okay, I know, I know. Another weird ending. But this chapter was getting kind of long and since I cut it, I already have a head start for the next chapter. The senseis get their house and we show the Naruto characters living together.**


	3. Home Sweet Home?

**Okay here's the next installment. Please read and review and give me some feedback on what you think.**

* * *

**When Tsunade's Bored**

**Chapter 3: Home Sweet Home? NOT!**

Ino felt so good. She was in that perfect state right between consciousness and sleep. It created such a fuzzy feeling inside. Sigh, she could wake up like this everyday. She opened her eyes and sat up, but her eyes widened when she saw the room. It was so barren. There was no wallpaper or paint. It was just a white room with a plain wooden floor, a dresser against the wall and her bed across from it. The door was ahead of her. She frowned as she remembered why she was there.

"Oh crap! Stupid Tsunade!" she groaned and rolled out of bed, running her hands through her hair. She almost forgot about the move. She stepped outside into the hall.

"Good morning Ino!" someone called. Ino whipped around, flinging the kunai. "What the hell! You just cut some of my hair off!" Ino furrowed her eyebrows as Naruto flailed about, noisily trying to unpin himself from the wall.

"Well watch where you're…" Ino trailed off as the realization sunk in. Everyday. She might wake up to this. Every. Day. "Ew! I have to live with you!"

"Eh…" Naruto scratched his head, staring at her. "I think we already knew this." Naruto turned around and banged on the door next to him, "Oi! Shika, hurry up in there! Other people want to be clean you know!"

"Well, not my fault you took a bath in ramen!" Shikamaru yelled back through the door. The water turned off. "You know that's not true," Naruto glared as Shikamaru came out, a small towel hanging from his head and a large one around his waist, though, as Ino discovered, it was riding dangerously low on his hips. She could just make out the start of the V his pelvic bone made…

Ino blushed and hastily turned away, "God, this morning sucks," she said, running a hand over her face as she tried to remember where Tenten's room was. "Oh yeah!" she said, hearing music coming from one room. She opened it and found Tenten lying on her bed upside down, shooting kunai at a target. Tenten glanced over, "Oh hey."

"Mm," Ino mumbled, closing the door and sitting down on the floor. "Bored?"

"…Not really," Tenten answered as she flung another kunai, knocking the current one off the board as it hit dead center. "Just trying to ignore the fact that I have to live with a bitch, two hyperactive idiots, and a potential creep who plays with dolls."

"Hm…denial," Ino mused. She snatched a kunai out of Tenten's hand, said girl getting an annoyed face. "Good approach," Ino continued, throwing the stolen kunai. "Yup," Tenten sighed, closing her eyes. Ino looked around and sighed boredly. Tenten's room was just as bare as hers.

She closed her eyes momentarily, "As good as that sounds…I think I'm going to try and make the best of this situation." "And," Ino continued, ignoring the scoff coming from her friend. "I think it'll be okay. I mean, I have two of my best friends."

"You're living with _Naruto_," Tenten said, looking at Ino to see her reaction. Ino's eyebrow twitched.

"And I have Neji," Ino continued.

"And Kiba. Let's not forget him," Tenten said.

"We talk a lot, Neji and me. Yup, he's a great friend and-"

"And the most important of all! Temari," Tenten said.

"Eff this."

"Would you like a side of denial with that annoyance?" Tenten asked cheerfully. Ino shifted slightly, glaring at Tenten, "You're the ever optimistic one, aren't you?" She got up.

"Where ya goin?" Tenten said.

"I'm hungry," Ino stated. She opened the door and looked back. "You coming?"

"I guess…" Tenten sighed and followed Ino out the door, already regretting her decision to do so.

"Oh good!" Kiba jumped up as Ino and Tenten came into view. Everyone was gathered around the table except Temari and Kankuro. "You guys are here! Now you can cook for-"

Ino interrupted with a loud scoff. "The only person she's cooking for-" Here, she hitched a thumb in Tenten's direction. "Is me!"

"Baka! I'm not cooking for you either!"

"B-but," Ino sniffled. Tenten rolled her eyes, used to her friend's antics by now. "Tenny!"

Tenten's eye twitched. "Don't call me that!"

"Okay, okay," Shikamaru grumbled, interrupting a would-be argument. "I'm hungry. Can you just make some food? Ino?"

"No!" Ino shouted. "God, Shika. If anything, you can cook better than me!"

"Yeah, but it's too-"

"Troublesome," Ino said with him. "Yeah we all know! Why don't you just get your _girlfriend Temari _to do it for you!?"

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed, as he immediately denied any relationship with said girl. Tenten rolled her eyes as the two went off into their own argument, both of them going to look in the fridge. She rounded on Neji and Kiba, "And what's your excuses?"

"Hm…" Neji shrugged. "Don't feel like it. I was just waiting for someone else to do it. Much more efficient." Kiba looked back and forth between the two, "Yeah…that's what I think too."

"…" Tenten slapped her forehead. Naruto bounced up and down in his seat, "So, so! You going to cook or what?!" he demanded. Tenten hit him on the head and sat down on the stool he fell off of, "No."

"Ooh, great idea," Ino stated, plopping down in the seat next to Tenten. Everyone looked at her questioningly but she began to drink out of her glass. Tenten rolled her eyes, _I_ hate _it when she does that! Gosh…_

"If you're going to talk, why would you start drinking?!"

"Ahh! Anyway, we'll just steal Naruto's ramen. I know he has some stashed somewhere. Plus, it's easy to make."

"Now wait just one minute-Ahh!" Naruto was promptly pushed out of the way as Kiba, Tenten and Ino ran up to his room. Neji turned to him, "I have to say, your ramen addiction comes in handy sometimes." Naruto pouted and reclaimed his seat. The three came back downstairs and Tenten pushed him off the seat again. Kiba and Ino went to work, opening all the cups and dumping them into two pots. Naruto protested weakly but then stole Kiba's chair. "So…?" Naruto asked. Nobody shifted or even acknowledged him. He growled in annoyance and Tenten glanced over. "Did you eat a puppy or something?"

"That was so random," Neji said. "But entertaining," Tenten laughed as Naruto glared at her, "And you have to admit. When he growled, it really did seem like a puppy was in his stomach." Neji smirked slightly, glaring at Naruto when he tried to trip Tenten as she got up to see the food. "How long is this going to take? I'm starved."

Ino turned around and leaned on the counter, ignoring Naruto, who whined a bit more and then settled into a grumpy silence. She surveyed the room, stopping to stare at Shikamaru. He was lazily staring up at the ceiling but what caught Ino's attention was the strawberry he was absentmindedly rubbing against his lips. She licked hers involuntarily. For some reason, Ino couldn't take her eyes off of the sight. Shikamaru would run the tip of the strawberry around his lips and then stop occasionally to suck or bite at it. Ino continued to stare, speechless as he finally began to eat it. A hand appeared in front of the view and Tenten's voice floated to Ino's ears. Ino focused immediately.

"What's up with you?" Tenten wondered, looking at her red-stained cheeks. "N-nothing," Ino stuttered, taking a step back, tripping over thin air. "I-I was just spacing out."

"What were you looking at?" Tenten said, remembering where her gaze was pointed and looking in that direction. She raised an eyebrow as Shikamaru began to suck at another strawberry. She turned back to Ino, smirking. "Ino-"

"I was so hungry!" Ino exclaimed, cutting Tenten off hurriedly. "I was watching Shikamaru eat that strawberry and then I realized how much I wanted it…er- th-the strawberry," she felt the need to add.

"Oh…I see," Tenten grinned wickedly. Ino blushed as her eyes widened ever so slightly, "So anyway," she hastily changed the topic. "Where's Temari and Kankuro?"

"Out," Kiba answered, propping his feet up on the table. "Something about going to a stand to see if they sold any desert food. Picky. Think they're too good for our food." "Get down," Ino said, violently pushing his feet off the table.

"Ramen's done," Tenten said, turning around, the pot in hand. "Mm," Naruto sighed, his eyes closed as he smelled his favorite smell. He jumped up and opened a cabinet, getting some bowls out. He passed them around and Tenten filled them up, "Can you imagine doing this everyday?"

"No way," Ino said, stifling a yawn. "It's s-ahh-so boring."

"Not to me," Shikamaru said, perfectly content.

"Of course not you!" Ino said, poking his cheek. He grunted, swatting her away.

* * *

"This…is cruel and unusual punishment," Sasuke muttered. "I already endured no missions for half a year when I came back and now this? What did I do to deserve this?"

Sakura whipped around, showing everyone sitting at the table the view of an abomination frying on the stove. "Everything, Uchiha Sasuke! You did _everything_ to deserve this!" She turned around fully, spatula in hand and fire in eyes. "Don't you dare act like you're some saint who never did anything. I'm just trying to make breakfast, damnit! You're lucky you're even getting any! Now shut it! Unless you want to make it yourself!?"

"…" Sasuke stared down at the table. Sakura's glare hardened, "I'll take that as a 'no' then." It grew silent after that. No one wanted to comment on the thing she had on the stove. Sakura was obviously in a bad mood.

"Sakura," Gaara blurted out. "I just have to know. What the hell is that monstrosity supposed to be?" Sakura pouted, holding the 'monstrosity' up on the spatula, "You don't like it? It's a jelly bean pancake." Everyone's eyes bugged out and Gaara choked on his spit. Matsuri's eyes widened even further as she turned to him, "G-Gaara-sensei! Are you okay?" Gaara shook his head, croaking out 'water, water.' Sasuke struggled not to laugh for that would ruin his reputation. Shino didn't react but just stared at the wall…or that's what everyone assumed since he had his glasses on. Chouji ran out the room, saying something about losing his appetite, which was a feat in itself. Lee shook his head slightly, "S-Sakura-chan. I do not wish to be rude but that is most certainly NOT a jelly bean pancake!"

"Um-uh…Sakura-chan, here," Hinata gently took the spatula from her friend and took her place at the stove. "I-I'll cook something."

Sakura's pout got bigger. "Am I that bad?"

"YES!" Everyone chorused, even Hinata and Lee. "Hmpf!" Sakura dropped down in the seat across from Gaara, arms crossed and a scowl on her face. "Here," Gaara hastily said, not wanting Sakura to glare at him all breakfast. "Let me help you Hinata-san."

"O-Oh," Hinata was clearly surprised. She looked at Gaara with eyes slightly wide. "Th-thank you." Soon, the smell of _real _pancakes wafted around the room and Chouji came back in to the kitchen, discarding his chip bag fairly quickly. "Mm, this smells great, Hinata-chan!" Lee cheered enthusiastically, a fork in the air. "You saved our lives!" He smiled widely but that disappeared as he suddenly felt a murderous aura directed towards him. He lowered the fork, looking around him confusedly. He gasped slightly. Sakura was staring at him, green eyes aflame and a butter knife in her hand. "S-Sakura-chan? Is there something wrong?"

"Oh nothing at all, Lee," She hissed, voice drenched with sarcasm. "But she saved your lives?! Your _lives_, LEE!?"

"Eep!" Lee ran out of the room. A knife appeared in the spot he was in. It was quiet as they all stared at Sakura in surprise.

Sasuke shrugged and gingerly picked up his fork, cut some pancake off and popped it in his mouth, "Hm…" Everyone stared at him, expecting him to say something. Sasuke looked up at Sakura, a smirk on his face, "Lee was right. She _did_ save our lives."

Sakura's glare intensified tenfold and he shrugged, placing more in his mouth, "Juf tellin ih lie ih if (just telling it like it is)," he said around the fluffiness. It would've been very comical if not for the situation. "…Sasuke…" Sakura started, a murderous tone in her voice. Sasuke abruptly got up, picking up his plate and Lee's and walked towards the door, "I'll have to take these to him…"

He left.

The door clicked to a close.

"DAMN YOU, UCHIHA SASUKE!"

* * *

Kakashi whistled.

That's all he was doing.

Whistling.

But for whatever reason, his whistling caused Anko to punch him in the head yelling, "Shut up, you idiot!"

"I'm just whistling is all!" Kakashi said innocently. Anko's eyes narrowed, "You did it right when Tsunade said she didn't want anyone ending up pregnant or having affairs and then you looked at me and then whistled."

"And?"

"You looked at me! You were insinuating something!" Anko said, standing up to her full height, which was unfortunately still about a head shorter than Kakashi. Damn his tallness. "You were suggesting that-"

"I was suggesting what?" Kakashi asked, stepping closer to her. Her breathing hitched slightly and his eye crinkled in the corner, signifying a cheeky smile she knew lay hidden under his mask. She glared and pushed him away, "Suggesting that I was going to have an affair or end up pregnant by…" She trailed off. She knew that Kakashi knew that Genma and Shizune were going out. _She_ had told him after all. And she knew that he wouldn't say Gai or Iruka. Damn, that just left him. And now that she really thought about it, he probably wasn't insinuating anything….at least, anything that deep. Now she was fighting a lost battle. Damn him!

"By?" Kakashi pressed, smiling wider. Anko scowled but didn't say anything. "Because I was just whistling. And if you got all this out of whistling…Anko-chan, are you feeling okay?" Kakashi put a hand on her forehead. Anko swatted it away angrily. "Don't call me that!" she hissed, narrowing her eyes again. He shook his head, almost sadly, "Anko-chan," he started, ignoring her demand. "I think you have some naughty thoughts about me and you. I mean if you thought that I was insinuating all that by whistling…and you know I would never say anything about you and them…" he gestured towards the other men in the room. "…Are you sure you aren't in love with me?"

Anko crossed her arms. "Oh shove it up your-" Shizune cleared her throat. Anko rolled her eyes but didn't take them off of Kakashi. Kakashi, usually the serious one, grinned cheekily and ignored Shizune's discreet warning. "I think you are," he said. Anko scoffed, "I know I'm not." He stepped closer again, "Are you sure," he started in a seductive voice. "That you're not attracted to this?" Here, he gestured with his hand to his chest and abs. Anko followed the hand, cursing him for wearing a tight black muscle shirt under his jounin vest, which happened to be unzipped. She just turned back to Tsunade and the others…who were all staring at them, amusement clear on their faces. "What?!" Anko snapped moodily. Tsunade busied herself with shuffling papers around, "Oh here it is." She got a few folders out, along with a set of keys. Kakashi eyed the folders warily, "What are those for?" he asked.

"Oh, you know," Tsunade waved a hand indifferently. "A few restraining orders, contracts that state that you can use weapons and jutsu on your housemates just as long as you don't stab them, put them in life-threatening condition or damage the house to the point of critical condition. Anything else is fine."

"…" the jounin and Iruka stared at her.

"Hey, Tenten and Ino grabbed a _steak knife_. Lord knows what they were going to do with it but after that, I'm not taking anymore chances," she said. "Alright, well let's get going!"

* * *

"Happy peanuts soar…over chocolate covered mountaintops and waterfalls of caramel… Prancing nougat in the meadow…sings a song of satisfaction to the world!" Tenten sang absentmindedly. She whispered, "To the world!"

"What is it with theme songs that appeals to her?" Ino mused to Sakura from her perch atop a tree. Sakura looked over at Ino, shrugging. Why were they in a tree, you're wondering? Well…I don't actually know. Ino asked another question, "Do you think all this is going to work out?" Hinata, who had been quiet this whole time, spoke up, "I-I think s-so, Ino-san-"

"Ino-chan," Ino interjected. Sakura hit her, "Don't interrupt." "Shut up!" "No you shut up!" "No you!" "Why don't you!?" "How bout no?!" "Pig!" "Forehead!" "Pig!" "Forehead!"

THWACK! The two girls nearly fell off the branches they were sitting on. They rubbed their heads and glared at a trying-to-look-innocent-but-failing-miserably Tenten. She was singing quietly along with the headphones, eyes closed as she reclined against the trunk. They narrowed their eyes even more. "Tenten, the branch is still in your hand," Ino said. Tenten promptly sang louder, dropping the branch and bopping her head as if she didn't hear. Ino found a nut and threw it at Tenten's head, not waiting to see the girl's reaction. She turned back to Hinata, "Sorry about that. What were you saying?"

"…" Hinata deadpanned. "Er…nothing." As Tenten threw a stick back at the two girls, a fight started. Hinata sighed, climbing down the tree carefully, not in any hurry to get down. "Sometimes…I really think those three need tags that warn people what they're getting into when they talk to them…"

She walked out of the clearing, not even glancing back when she heard a thud and a groan. She didn't even flinch when a branch followed by a bunch of nuts, flew past her face.

* * *

"Ow, wtf!?" Anko growled as a bunch of nuts hit her on the side of her face. Kakashi grinned openly and Anko glared at him. They kept following Tsunade, down the path. As they headed towards the forest, they caught a glimpse of the two houses that the kids were staying in. It was too quiet. No one was outside, giving it the look of abandonment. And why was there smoke coming out of the front door?! They soon were forced to forget about that as Tsunade led them into the forest, following a path that they could barely see. Once or twice, Iruka was tripped by an exuberant Gai trying to speed up the line.

"Anko…why are you glaring?" Kurenai asked. Shizune glanced at her too, rolling her eyes slightly, "As if its not obvious."

"Oh really?" Anko snapped. "Then why am I glaring?" Shizune shrugged, "Because of Kakashi." Kurenai looked at Anko in question. Anko shook her head but Shizune looked at her like a mother who knows that the child is lying. Anko sighed and rolled her eyes, looking away afterwards, "Oh fine. You were right, whatever." "I know. It's _kind of_ apparent that you like him," Shizune shrugged and glanced back at the guys but they were too far back to hear. Anko stopped for a second but Kurenai nudged her and she kept walking as she stared at Shizune in disbelief, "Whoa! Now I didn't say all that! I don't like that bastard."

"Oh, quit calling him a bastard!" Kurenai said, waving a hand dismissively at Anko. She turned to Shizune. "But I don't think she likes him either. Anko and Kakashi are close friends…though, even I don't know the whole story. But I do know that that's why they're so comfortable with each other. You never see Kakashi acting all seductive to anyone else. It's safe to assume that they're best friends…or as close to a best friend as you can get. Kakashi doesn't seem like the type to really confide everything in someone like best friends do," Kurenai stopped and took a breath from her miniature speech. She looked to see the other two staring at her. "What?"

They both looked at her like she was crazy, "Who's side are you on?!" they asked simultaneously. Shizune shook her head slightly. "First, you defend her and then you go into every detail about how they're close and how she's the only one Kakashi will really talk to."

"What…she said," Anko added. Kurenai rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm only stating the truth," she said. "Now that I think about it, Shizune's right. You probably do like him."

"Jeez, do _I _get a say in this?" Anko asked in a sarcastic tone.

"We're here," Tsunade said as they stepped out of the forest.

They looked up and stared at the building in amazement. Kurenai cleared her throat, "Isn't it…a little big for eight people?" Tsunade looked at her critically, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, "Who is to say…" she started and they all turned to her, looking skeptical, afraid, and curious all at once. "That you're the only ones living here?" They all groaned…except Iruka and Gai, "That sounds most youthful! Who are these new people who will no doubt be very youthful? I wish to know their names."

Tsunade shrugged, "I didn't actually say there were other people. I might add some later…maybe."

"But isn't it bigger than the kids'?" Asuma said. Kakashi waved the smoke away as Asuma spread it everywhere, "He's right, you know." "So back to my earlier question…why is our house so big?" Kurenai asked. "I mean, if we're going to have eight people while they have eight plus the people who visit from the other house, shouldn't _they_ have the bigger house?"

Tsunade sighed. "Because you're adults and personally I'm not all that concerned. But the main reason as to why the kids are in those houses is so I can see them find romance! Now, do you really think that'll work when they have a huge house they live in where they can go anywhere to be away from others? Plus, I've learned from experience that adults tend to have bigger arguments than kids. With kids, one usually either goes and cries, yells and just leaves, hits the other and leaves, or gives up and leaves the person alone. With adults…you actually stay and _finish_ the arguments. I understand that you all need your space. Okay? Now if you'll follow me-"

"So…no one's living with us?" Iruka said and if you were really listening you would've heard a hint of disappointment. Tsunade's eyes narrowed as she stared at the young teacher. He cleared his throat, "Cause its just sorta odd how there's five men and only three women."

"Hm…" Tsunade contemplated him for a few seconds and then decided that he was telling the truth, or at least part of it. "Well, yes I'm afraid so Iruka. Why? Are you afraid that there's competition?"

"No!" Iruka rapidly shook his head, unaware of the danger he was about to cause. Gai, Kakashi, Genma, and Asuma took a step back. "I do NOT want to compete over them!"

It all happened in less than a second, Tsunade later decided. One moment, Iruka was staring at her indignantly and the next, his face was plowed into the earth at her feet.

Gai helped him up where he promptly got punched in the head by Anko, "You want to say that again!?"

"…" Iruka almost shook with fear. If its one thing he learned in that one second, it was that you should never mess with angry women, especially ones that were Anbu and/or special jounin. It just was not done.

"Yes?" Kurenai hissed, leaning in as she looked at him questioningly. He shook his head quickly, "I didn't mean it like that! I meant that I'm too young to go out with any of you and-"

"Are you calling us _old_?" Shizune asked, ready to fling a couple senbon (with paralysis potion on the tips) his way.

"No, I just meant that you're like…b-big sisters and it'd be weird to just…" His voice died in his throat as they closed in on him. Tsunade chuckled shaking her head, "Young, naïve Iruka." She disappeared after tossing the keys to Genma. Kakashi turned to Genma and Asuma, completely ignoring Gai who was shouting random things like 'save the youth!' and other similar phrases.

"Should we help him?" Kakashi asked.

"Hell no man," Asuma said, taking a cigarette out. Genma spit the senbon in his mouth out at the whole pack and they all fell to the ground where he promptly crushed them into the dirt. Asuma was left standing there, mouth agape. He turned and glared at the man standing nonchalantly in front of him. "What the hell was that for?"

"It's bad for you," Genma said, shrugging. "And you better get used to that too cause I know full well that Shizune, myself and _Kurenai _aren't going to let you do that in the house."

"…" Asuma glanced at Kurenai and didn't say anything. "It doesn't matter, you asshole! Next time, just tell me to stop. Actually, we're outside! I have the freedom to smoke outside!" Genma glared, twirling another senbon, "You're ruining my air!"

"Well…I guess it's just me," Kakashi said, still ignoring Gai as Genma and Asuma continued their argument. He put a hand to his chin as he watched Iruka get beat up to a pulp. On one hand, the females were scary. On the other hand, Iruka really didn't mean it. It didn't come out right and he just didn't have any experience. "…He needs to get laid," Kakashi decided.

"Um…" Kakashi poked the closest woman on the shoulder. She turned around to reveal Anko, glaring. …Bad move. "Get the hell away from me!" she punched Kakashi out of the way, yelling after him, "You're one of _them_!" Kakashi sighed as he flew over a tree. He shook his head, "I shouldn't have bothered."

"So…you okay?" Genma asked the groaning Iruka. He just nodded in return, holding an icepack to his head. Kakashi shook his head sympathetically, "I tried. I really did but Anko…and you know how women get…"

"What was that?" An edgy voice came from the living room.

"Ah…ahahaha, n-nothing," Kakashi laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "Asuma, hand me a drink, would you?"

"Mm," Asuma threw him a bottle of beer and Kakashi handed it to Iruka who drank it gratefully. "Maybe one day, they'll really think of you as a little brother…not today though…"

"Hm…" Iruka got up slowly limping slightly as he left the room. _That poor soul,_ they all thought. _He was so young and then those…those creatures…_ They didn't continue.

* * *

"I'm so bored," Kiba whined. Naruto threw a clump of dirt at him in response.

So started the dirt war.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed, too pathetic and lazy to move from his spot. He was currently laying down, watching the clouds go by. Neji was with him at first, having a casual conversation until Tenten came and pulled him up, saying something about getting revenge on two evil stick throwing creatures, whatever _that_ meant. And then Kiba and Naruto had to come and sit down quietly…

For all of five seconds and then they started the dirt war, flinging grass and dirt at each other, Shikamaru being in the middle of it all. Why did everything troublesome happen to him? Maybe because you think everything is troublesome, you baka! Ahem…anyways a big pile of dirt suddenly landed on Shika's head and the war ceased. "Great," he started sarcastically. "Just great. You too idiots are the joy of everyone's day, aren't you?" Without waiting for a reply, he sighed, got up, shoved both of their heads sideways as he walked between them and then left. They looked at each other, shrugged and continued the war.

Shikamaru shook his head, walking away. What to do now? "Hey Shika!" a call was heard. He raised an eyebrow at Temari. I bet you thought it was Ino…so did I.

"Shika?" Shikamaru questioned. He tilted his head. _Why is _she _calling me that? _He didn't particularly like the way she said it, either. It sounded like she wanted something, like she was trying to lure him into false security or something.

"What?" she pouted. "I can't call you Shika now?" Shikamaru became uneasy. What was with her? Was she about to prank him…? He looked at her weirdly, "Is there something wrong with you?"

He saw something flash in her eyes but it disappeared and she smirked. She shook her head, "No, why would there be?" _Hm…she's not acting _that_ differently. But something's still…off, _Shikamaru scrutinized her.

* * *

"I'm leaving," Sakura stated as she got up and started walking away. "No! Wait," Ino grabbed her friend's wrist and pulled her down again. "Sakura please," she begged. Sakura rolled her eyes and plopped down again, sighing as Ino didn't take her eyes off the two in front of her. Why the hell did Ino actually come and drag her all the way over here to spy on Temari and Shikamaru…? They were just _sitting_ at the pond!

"We're going to have a get together." Ino looked at her weirdly, "We did…just a few minutes ago."

"No…I mean, a _real _girl talk with the other two," Sakura clarified. Ino shrugged, "About what?" "Oh you'll see," Sakura said. She smirked wickedly, "Now its _your _turn to get questioned." Ino shuddered ever so slightly but didn't question. This was more important. _**That bitch better stay the FUCK away from Shika-kun. Goddamnit, he's ours!**_

_For the last time, Shika is not ours. But you're right about the rest. She needs to take her evil claws out of him!_ Sakura looked at Ino weirdly. Why was she clenching her fists and not even looking at the two oblivious teens anymore? She seemed to be upset but agreeing as she nodded, eyebrows furrowed and- "Oh my god, you really do have an inner?! I thought you were bluffing. Man, now I'm not as unique."

**Try psychotic.**

_I know right_, Ino said, even though she was basically calling _herself_ psychotic.

* * *

Later, when it was getting dark, all the kids had gone back to their not-yet-homes.

"So who's cooking dinner?" Gaara asked boredly, playing with some sand. Matsuri watched, smiling slightly as he made it circle around his wrist and up to his palm where it spread out and around every finger. She loved how he made it seem so simple. Gaara-sama was so strong. She blushed slightly as he then absentmindedly moved it across the table where it danced on her hand, caressing her fingers and wrist. She giggled quietly, "That tickles Gaara-sensei." He blinked, "Sorry," he murmured, withdrawing the sand. Her eyes widened, scared she upset him, "N-no! I mean…it feels nice. It's funny." He slowly began having the sand dance around her hand again and she smiled softly.

Sakura who was at the other end of the table smiled as she watched the two, "It's so obvious that she loves him," she said to Hinata. Hinata nodded. "Sorta like someone else I know…" Hinata turned red and with eyes widened, looked at Sakura who just smiled knowingly. Hinata hastily got up and went to look in the fridge, "Hm…th-there's only a dr-drumstick left…um never mind," she said as it mysteriously disappeared and Chouji was seen with barbeque sauce all over his face. "Um…there's…okay, there's nothing."

"Wait, everyone look in the cupboards!" Sakura said. "Our lives depend on this."

"…Yeah," Sasuke sweatdropped and they all rooted through the kitchen, looking for something edible. After a few minutes, Hinata turned to them, "Okay, what do you have?"

Sakura put her stuff down quite proudly. Hinata sweatdropped, "Sakura-chan…it's all…seasoning." Sakura smiled, "I know. It's for the food…well, if we get any…heh heh, I see your point."

Sasuke smirked as he deposited his findings on the counter. Hinata looked through it, "Okay, so Sasuke-san found some chestnuts, a can of corn, and a few bags of pasta. Hm…That's good. Next."

"Wow," Sakura commented. "Hinata seems at home in the kitchen. She's rather confident." Lee bounced up after Sasuke and held out his items. Hinata stared at him, "Um…Lee…that's a paper clip and some string."

"Yeah," Lee nodded. Hinata stared at him. Lee smiled, "See, we can make a necklace," he said, demonstrating as he bent the paperclip slightly and put it on the string. "See? 'S' for Sakura or," he flipped the paperclip, "'S' for Sasuke! Oh and Shino!"

Gaara pushed him out of the way and deposited his stuff, "I found herbs…and stuff," he said, uninterested. Hinata sifted through it and found peppers, onions and fresh garlic. Matsuri came up next and put some tomatoes, green leaves, and potatoes down. Chouji found some kind of smoked meat and a box of crackers. And last but not least Shino found a box of cake mix.

"Okay…well," Hinata trailed off as she looked at all the food. Lee's stomach growled loudly. Sakura glanced around the room, her stomach growling slightly too, "Come on Hinata-chan! We can make something right?"

Hinata glanced at Sakura, I'm not sure if **we** can but I know **I** can, she thought but was way too nice to say it. Hm…

"Come on Hinata!" Chouji cheered. "You can do-"

"Can you PLEASE just leave?! All of you?!" Hinata started breathing hard as they all stared at her. O.o "I-I mean, I can't do anything with you all pressuring me and m-making it more difficult to think so could you just…?"

"…" they all trailed out. She stared in concentration at all the food as she gripped the side of the counter. What to do? What to do? I hate disappointing others. What if they get mad? Or what if-

**Hinata!** Oh my god, she had one too! **Calm down. Who cares about them! We have the best cooking skills in this house!** Her inner declared, holding a spoon up rather proudly. The Inner put a pot on her head as a helmet. **Now…are you ready?! We're going in!**

"Yeah…YEAH!" Hinata said proudly (And loudly). "Um…Hinata-chan? Are you okay in there?!" a wavering voice asked, the owner obviously scared by the OOC moment.

"Um…Y-yeah," Hinata said. "Just fine."

Twenty minutes later, the smell of food filtered to the living room where everyone was sitting. Hinata turned around, a pot in her hand, "Guys! It's read-" It seemed that she didn't have to bother because in less than a second, they were all there, looking as calm as ever. Sakura grinned slightly, "So what'd you cook for us, Hinata-chan?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and Sakura glared before turning back to Hinata.

"Um…well, keep in mind that we had limited resources," Hinata said nervously. "I made soup and some kind of cake." She began ladling it into everyone's dish.

"Oh my god! This is great!" Sakura said. There were many 'mm's and slurps that showed that others agreed. "Hinata-chan, you're way too modest."

"Oh…wow. You really think so?" They all nodded. Chouji stood up, "Can I have seconds?" Hinata stared at him, "You're done already?" Chouji nodded, licking his lips slightly. "Well…help yourself, I gues-"

"NO!" Everyone yelled. Chouji glared. "You NEVER say 'help yourself' to Chouji. He'll eat all of it!" Hinata sighed, would she ever get to eat? She put Chouji's food in a bowl, then got hers and sat down. This…would be a long…however long they were staying here. Hinata sighed again as Sakura glared across the table at Sasuke and Matsuri stabbed herself with a chopstick from nervousness after Gaara accidentally brushed her hand.

"Thank god we found enough food," Sakura said after a few moments of silence. Lee looked at her, "We were supposed to be looking for food before? I thought we were just playing a scavenger hunt." He walked over to a few cabinets and opened them, showing a bunch of food stacked in there. Their jaws dropped and they glared at him.

This would be a long forever…

* * *

"I am so hungry," Naruto whined, holding his stomach as he collapsed onto the couch. Kiba fell on him a second later, Akamaru in his arms. Shikamaru just rolled his eyes at the two, muttering his famous saying, "Troublesome" as he also fell onto an armchair, arms and legs splayed so it looked like he was begging to be raped (or so Ino thought.) Ino and Tenten scoffed at the three lumps though the truth was that they were just as hungry. Kiba sighed, "Who's gonna cook?"

"No one."

"Why not!?" Kiba asked angrily, Akamaru barking along with him. Tenten walked around the couch and sat on the floor in front of the Tv, grabbing a remote and flicking through the channels. Ino sighed; she was all alone.

"There's no food," Tenten said monotonously.

"Time to raid Naruto's room," Ino stated. They marched upstairs again. Well, Kiba was about to but then got distracted and went into the kitchen instead. He looked at the three inhabitants curiously. "What'cha guys doing in here?"

"Sitting," Neji answered. Temari rolled her eyes but nodded, "Basically. So…? Who's cooking?"

"Um…Akamaru?" Kiba replied, a grin tugging at his lips. Neji rolled his eyes, muttering something about flirting immature boys who hadn't gone through puberty yet. Kiba turned and glared at Neji. "I have SO reached puberty and I'm not flirting. I'm just being my usual Kibalicious self." "Kibalicious?" Temari cracked a smile and started laughing, not a mocking laugh but a true laugh and Kiba grinned again, satisfied that at least someone found him funny. Ino who had just walked in, smiled despite herself and her hungry stomach. Temari seems rather happy with Kiba. Hm… Ino grinned, put the ramen down and ran out of the kitchen as quickly and quietly as she could, though she forgot about the kitchen door soooo…

**BAM! Thud!**

"Ow…" Everyone in the kitchen turned to see Ino holding her head as she slowly got up from the floor. She waved nervously, her cheeks stained red, God that's embarrassing. "Um…hi…"

"Yeah…" Kiba slowly shook his head and turned back to Temari and Kankuro. Neji smirked and Ino glared back before banging the door open and stomping out of the kitchen.

"Tenten. My room. Now," Ino said, grabbing the remote and Tenten, clicking the tv off and pulling her to the steps all in two seconds. "I was watching that," Shikamaru's bored voice came. Ino smirked, throwing the remote just out of his reach to the armchair across from him, "Go get it, lazy bum." And she pounded up the steps, still pulling Tenten.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru stared at the remote, willing it to move. "And I was so comfortable. Naruto, grab the remote, will you?"

**Snnnooorrreeee**

Naruto was out, drool dripping onto the pillow and everything. Shikamaru groaned in agony. "Ino, you're so troublesome!" It was silent for a moment and then Shikamaru heard a 'Damn straight!' a second later.

"…" Shikamaru pouted.

"Okay okay! God, what'd you want?!" Tenten said, yanking her arm out of Ino's grasp and sitting down as she rubbed it. Ino ignored her and plopped down on the bed, turning to face Tenten, with a mix of nervousness, excitement, fear, and who knows what else on her face. "God, Ino. I think you sprained it!" Tenten complained. Ino rolled her eyes and waved a hand impatiently, "Yes, yes whatever! Now guess what!"

"The stick I hit you with left a bruise?" Tenten asked hopefully, turning to look outside. Ino glared even though Tenten couldn't see it, "As a matter of fact, it did! But no! What do you think about Kiba and Temari together?"

"Um…let me ask you a question. Why do you look as though your life depends on this?" Tenten asked, avoiding the question. Ino hit the bed out of frustration, "Just answer, Ten!" Tenten sighed, "We're going to have a very serious talk later, all four of us." "Why does everyone always say that?" Ino wondered, momentarily forgetting about the question. Tenten was at a loss, "This happened before!?" Ino nodded, "Sakura said that when I was spying on Shika and Temari."

"Oh…" Tenten trailed off, deciding not to point out the obvious. "Well, anyway, about that completely random and weird question before: I have no idea. I mean…they might make a good couple. But at the same time, so could Gaara and Sakura. So how should I know if they'll get together or not?" Ino rolled her eyes. Tenten was so weird. She had this weird idea that if Sakura didn't get Sasuke, she could go out with Gaara. As if.

"Well, thanks Ten," Ino said, sarcastically. "I don't know why I picked you to live with me." "Why did you pick me to live with you?" Tenten asked, seriousness showing in her face. Ino's eyes widened, "Tenten, I was just kidding, you know that right?" "Yeah," Tenten nodded. "But I'm curious." Ino sighed, relieved. A sad or upset Tenten was not a good one, "Because, I'm closer to you than I am with Hinata. I mean, we're all best friends but I know that I talk a lot and Hinata's too nice to tell me to shut up where as you will hit me in the back of the head with a branch," Here, Ino glared at her friend who grinned in response. She wasn't going to let that go, Tenten realized. "So, it wouldn't be like we were talking. I'd just be rambling, yelling, or doing something else with Hinata just sitting there, nodding. Plus…I don't know, even though Sakura and me are like sisters, you're the one who knows me best and…I love you very much!" she exclaimed in a moment of randomness as she quickly hugged Tenten.

Tenten laughed and hugged her back and then started singing as they resumed their normal positions. It was quiet and peaceful until a kunai whizzed through the air. Ino barely had time to jerk her head to the left before it embedded itself in the wall. She heaved a sigh and stared at Tenten.

"Why are you always throwing things at me?!" Ino demanded after, of course, throwing it back at the girl. Tenten shrugged and caught it, "I don't know. Sometimes I just feel like I need to throw something. So I do." Ino slapped her forehead, "You are so weird! But Ten? Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," Tenten said, nodding. Ino sighed, ignoring that comment, "Do you ever think we'll all get along? With more than just two of us? Cause we're so separated and it seems like we can't be in a room for more than a few seconds before an argument breaks out unless its less than three people."

"Well…let's review. I hate Temari. Temari hates me. You hate Temari. She hates you. Kiba likes/hates Naruto. Neji hates/likes Naruto and Kiba. Kiba hates Neji. Shikamaru thinks everyone is troublesome. Kankuro doesn't really hate anyone but doesn't get along well with anyone either so…no, I don't think we'll all ever get along."

"Hm…I don't think you're troublesome all the time," a voice said. Ino whipped her head around, almost falling off the bed in the process and Tenten jumped and hit her head on the window. They turned to glare at Shikamaru who just shrugged, "You're supposed to be ninjas."

"What do you want?!" Ino asked. Shikamaru sighed, "There's absolutely nothing to eat. Everyone refuses to eat ramen anymore and there's only enough for Naruto anyway."

"Sooo…" Tenten gestured with her hands to go on as she stared at Shikamaru. For a genius, he's pretty stupid. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "So Neji, Kiba, Temari and I are going into town to get something." Ino jumped at the mention of Temari, "I'll go too!" He looked at her weirdly, "We don't need that many peo-" "I said," Ino started menacingly, glaring at Shikamaru who immediately shut up. "I'm. Going. With. You." Shikamaru nodded, quickly leaving. Tenten stared at Ino, "And you call me the weird one." Ino looked confused, "What do you mean?" Tenten deadpanned, she doesn't even realize that she has a crush on the boy… "Nothing Ino. Nothing at all," Tenten rolled her eyes and Ino pouted. She knew Tenten was keeping something from her. She opened her mouth to say something when a loud voice rang out.

"Where is she, Shika!?" Ino's eyes widened and then turned to slits. Only she called him that. That- "Can we just leave her here or something?"

Ino stomped out of the room, stopping at the top of the steps, "I'm coming, Goddamnit! Don't get your A-cup bra in a bunch!" Tenten sighed, walking downstairs after the following argument faded. The five trailed out the door but Tenten quickly pulled Neji back in by his collar. He turned around, an annoyed expression on his face, "Tenten, what is it?" Tenten stared at him as though it should have been obvious, "I would've been bored without anyone here. Don't leave me all alone with puppet dude and ramen boy."

"Fine," Neji sighed. "Yay!" Tenten quickly dragged him upstairs. "Hey, can I cut your hair?" he groaned loudly and Kankuro and Naruto exchanged glances and snickered at his fate.

* * *

Later, when Ino looked back on this, she would decide that it was a huge mistake. First off, Temari took charge and Shikamaru actually let her. The girl didn't even know where she was going half the time. Ino seethed. She had to pick out the vegetables, Temari had decided. Kiba was in charge of meat. And Temari was in charge of everything, meaning she decided what kind of meat they were going to buy out of the meat Kiba already picked and what kind of vegetables they were going to buy out of the vegetables Ino already bought. The controlling jerk. Who the hell did she think she was? Temari walked by again and barked out an order. Ino snapped a bushel of carrots in half. A salesman morphed into her peripheral, a wary smile on his face. "Um…miss, you're gonna have to pay for that…" Whoo, if looks could kill…

* * *

"…So…um, please forgive me?" Iruka looked up at Shizune and Kurenai. They sighed and nodded, albeit reluctantly. "Traitors!" Could be heard being yelled from the room over. Next came the sound of muffled screams, a slap, a groan, and a thud, "That'll teach you, you pervert!" Kakashi's voice filtered into the room next, "Ugh….ow…Anko, you know I didn't mean to touch you there…you just wanted an excuse to hit me," he mumbled.

Anko sniffed, sticking her nose in the air as she stepped over the copy nin, not even bothering to help him up. She sat down on the bed and turned to look at him, stifling a laugh as she saw him glaring up at her from his position on the floor. She stared back at him, a curious expression on her face, "You're gonna stay?"

Kakashi looked at her weirdly and then nodded. "I'm the closest thing to a friend you have," he said teasingly and Anko looked up at him suspiciously. "I mean, what with your inept social skills…"

Anko glared at him. He looked back seriously as he finished, "I've got to get you used to socializing in a way that is acceptable to society."

They settled into a comfortable silence, neither really caring until Kakashi had to go and ruin it, "So…do you remember anything?" he asked. She stiffened visibly and turned around, "Nothing but the fucking nightmares that snake bastard gives me," she said bitterly. "I don't understand, Kakashi! Even when he's dead, he still haunts me!" Kakashi's eyes narrowed, "What happens?" Her face scrunched up then. She looked over at him, "My mark. It burns when I have them. And it's always in the middle of the night, when it's at its darkest. I wake up screaming and…sometimes I…well, there's tears in my eyes and my mark-it just hurts so much."

"Have you told Tsunade-sama about this?" he demanded. She looked away. "You haven't, have you?!" She looked back at him, scornfully, "No! Kakashi, it doesn't ever help." Kakashi narrowed his eyes even more, "You haven't been taking your medicine," he accused. Anko looked down then, "No." He sighed, "Anko, I was charged with taking-" "You don't need to take care of me!" "I'm just saying…" he sighed again, putting a hand to his face, "What are they going to do when they find out that you haven't been following orders?"

"Like I give a damn!"

"This is the main reason, Anko…Remember?"

"Yes," she said monotonously, rolling her eyes. He went on anyway. "I was charged with you when you came back from him. I had to guard you just in case you ever remembered anything to report on or if the memory caused you to snap." "They thought I was a psycho," Anko said. Kakashi rolled his eyes, "They did not. There were other cases like that, where encounters with Orochimaru caused people to act a certain way. Tsunade-sama and the Third thought you would be traumatized…"

"Anyway, go on," she said lying flat on her back. "Even though I know what happens." Kakashi ignored that comment and continued, "And I was supposed to watch you for a year or so…you weren't supposed to find out of course. You were supposed to think I was just another kid. But of course, you didn't and so we ended up arguing all the time…and then somewhere in-between all the fighting and guarding, we managed to become friends."

"Yeah," she said chuckling. "Although, I ended up taking care of you." He gave her a look and Anko laughed. She stopped a moment later and amended the statement, looking at him seriously. "We ended up taking care of each other." Kakashi relaxed and hm'ed contently and agreeably. "I'm sorry I yelled at you," she eventually mumbled. "For what? Yelling at me when I let them forgive Iruka? Or when I grabbed you? Oh, or what about when I asked if you were taking your medicine?" Anko pouted, only slightly and glared at Kakashi. "I'm trying to apologize here! And don't call it medicine. I sound like some crazy freak. They're pills to help my memory." "Exactly. Medicine."******

"So that's it!" Kurenai exclaimed but Asuma and Shizune immediately shushed her. "I never knew. That's an odd story. Can you imagine a little Kakashi assigned to protect a little Anko in case she ever had a bad memory? That's adorable!" she squealed. Shizune rolled her eyes, though a smile was on her face. Asuma scratched his beard, "It probably wasn't. Kakashi had problems to deal with himself. He wasn't exactly the happiest kid back then. It's no wonder Anko found out he was lying. I mean, what kind of unemotional kid like that would want a friend in the first place?"

"Oh shut up!" Shizune and Kurenai said, pushing him away as they pressed their ears to the door again.

He walked away, shaking his head and muttering, "Women…"

* * *

**Um…yeah I'm gonna just stop here? Next chapter, a problem arises and they need to figure out how to solve it but with all the arguments going on, it's not going so well. But, soon the chaos and romance and randomness can happen. (**IMPORTANT!**)There's a whole point to the KakaAnko childhood thing. As I mentioned, it ties in with her past with Orochimaru so it will eventually tie in with Sasusaku (their friendship and later their relationship) If you're confused or have any questions, just ask but keep in mind it'll be explained more so I might not be able to answer a question. Okay, so with that said, review! For every review you don't give, a fairy dies in Neverland. Save a fairy. Review.**


	4. Home Is Where The Hate Is

**If I owned Naruto, Matsuri wouldn't just be a character from a filler episode nor would she be downgraded to Gaara's fangirl.**

* * *

**When Tsunade's Bored**

**Chapter 4: Home Is Where the ****Hate**** Is**

"Oh my god, I don't think I can do this," Ino said, shaking her head. "I really don't. I have a lazy bastard, two hyperactive idiots, a bitch, a backyardigan and a weird puppet freak."

"Kankuro's actually not that bad once you get past his…slightly abrasive attitude," Sakura said, popping a cookie in her mouth, smiling warmly after tasting it. She leaned back against the trunk more comfortably.

"…" Ino just bit into her cookie savagely. _Crunch!_

"…Anyways…who's the Backyardi-"

"Stomp, stomp, stomp; I'm doing that yeti stomp!" Tenten sang along with the headphones on her head. Sakura sweatdropped, "Oh…" "Well, you got to admit, it was really nice when we first came in the house," Hinata spoke up. She decided to add, "You know. Before everyone fought over their rooms."

"Yeah, I guess," Ino grumbled, gesturing to Sakura for the box of cookies.

Flashback

_When they walked in, they saw a huge hallway leading to a staircase with many doorways branching off. After everyone thoroughly examined each room, they met back up in the main hallway "…whoa," Kiba summed up once again._

"_I know," Ino smiled, "Everything looks so nice."_

"_Definitely comfortable," Shikamaru agreed, quite happily.  
_

_As they started upstairs, they grew tense, knowing what was going to happen as soon as they got up there, although no one voiced their thoughts. They got to the final step and it instantly went quiet. They all exchanged glances and…_

_Ran for their lives! Ahem, I meant rooms._

_And then the chaos started. Ino reached for a door but Kiba skidded passed her and got there before her. Ino glared, "THAT'S MY ROOM!"_

"_FUNNY…I DON'T SEE YOUR _NAME _ANYWHERE!" Kiba retorted._

"_GRRRRRRRR YOU SAW ME HEADING TOWARDS IT, KIBA!" Ino marched back in the direction of the stairs._

"_YEAH…BUT IS YOUR _NAME_ THERE?!" Kiba called after her._

"_YOURS ISN'T EITHER!" Ino yelled back. _

_Shikamaru rolled his eyes, settling his hand on a knob, "…God…this is so troubleso- OH MY FUCKING GOD! INO PUT THE STEAK KNIFE DOWN!"_

"_NEVER!" Ino yelled, hefting it up for all to see…at least, all in the hallway. She flung it in Kiba's direction and Naruto, who happened to be running by, got his arm's sleeve cut. Him, assuming he got hurt, let out a girlish shriek._

"_AIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEE!"_

"_OMG, NARUTO! ARE YOU OKAY!" Kiba asked._

"MY ARM! OH…I DON'T THINK I'M GONNA MAKE IT." Naruto rolled around on the floor.

"_OH SHUT UP AND GET THE HELL UP. SHE MISSED IF YOU HADN'T NOTICED. YOU HAVE THE SMALLEST CUT POSSIBLE," Temari spat. Oh, how she hated stupid people._

"_BARK BARK!" Akamaru flew around the hallway, circling as he sprayed certain…liquids everywhere._

"_OH MY GOD. MY EYES! EW, AND THIS PISS STINKS!" Naruto yelled, having gotten hit by it._

"_DUH! IT'S PISS!" Kankuro and Temari yelled back as they hid behind Temari's fan._

"_BARK BARK!"_

"_GOOD JOB AKAMARU!"_

"…_Um…I guess this is my room." Temari said after a while. She opened the door slightly._

"_YEAH, I GUESS SO, YOU LUCKY BITCH!" Ino yelled. It wasn't that it was Temari. She just wanted to call someone a bitch._

"_HEY! DON'T CALL MY SISTER A LUCKY BITCH YOU LOUD PIG!" Kankuro shouted, glaring at Ino. Temari rolled her eyes, deemed the argument unworthy and went into her new room where she swiftly locked the door._

"_AAARGGHHHH! YOU WANNA TAKE THIS OUTSIDE BARBIE BOY!?" back in the hall, Ino took out a few kunai (after discreetly looking around for the steak knife and not being able to find it.) and walked menacingly towards him._

"_GRRR! BARBIE BOY!? BRING IT ON!" Kankuro, appalled by the name, took out his puppet._

"_OH IT'S ALREADY BROUGHT!"_

"_THEN SERVE IT!"_

"_I WILL!" Ino, flung the kunai and just as he ducked, gave a quick uppercut and sent him flying- __**SLAM! **__Where his head promptly hit the ceiling._

"_Ooh…I didn't know the walls had iron underneath it…ow…"_

"_Hehehehe! That was so funny! Omg, you shoulda seen it, Shika!"_

"_I was right…there."_

"_Ino was all pow boom crash and puppet dude was all ow and bam and boom and-" Kiba rambled on and on._

_Neji who was getting a headache, rubbed his head slightly, "Shut. Up."_

"_NO YOU SHUT UP, YOU BLIND FREAK!" Kiba suddenly yelled._

"_I AM NOT BLIND, YOU ASSHOLE. NOW SHUT THE HELL UP BEFORE I KAITEN YOUR ASS ACROSS THE GLOBE!"_

"_I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!"_

"_COME OVER HERE AND I'LL SUCCEED!"_

"_NEJI! NO, DON'T DO THAT!. OH MY GOD! THAT POOR DOG! NEJI, YOU FREAKIN IDIOT. WHY DID YOU JUST BLAST AKAMARU INTO THE EFFIN WALL!?"_

"_Tenten….do NOT reprimand me when I DIDN'T KNOW THAT THE EFFIN ASSHOLE WOULD DECIDE TO USE HIS DOG LIKE THE PUNK HE IS!"_

"_WHO YOU CALLIN A PUNK, PUNK?"_

"_IDIOT!"_

"_FOOL!"_

"_WHO?!"_

"_YOU!"_

"_YOU KNOW WHAT?!"_

_"CHICKEN BUTT! GUESS WHY!"_

"_CHICKEN THIGH! GUESS THE REST!"_

"_CHICKEN BREA-"_

"_SHUT THE HELL UP! GOD, YOU GUYS AREN'T MAKING ANY SENSE!"_

"_Damn, Ino…when you scream you really…OH MY GOD HIT THE DECK! NOW _**TENTEN'S**_ GOT THE STEAK KNIFE!_

"_AAHHHH!" They all ducked and listened curiously as they heard Lee shout something from the other house. They shrugged it off and continued running around the house, arguing back and forth._

End Flashback

"Wow, that's hilarious!" Sakura laughed, almost falling out of the tree. "Well…ours was somewhat like yours except…"

Flashback!

**Skiiiiiiiiddddddd! CRASH! **Sakura ran past Shino, trying to screech to a halt but failing to notice the bugs moving under her. She slid right past him and crashed into the wall.**  
**

"_DAMN YOU SHINO!" She yelled._

"…" _he entered his room and locked it._

_Sakura turned to another only to have Sasuke cut her off and put his hand on the knob. "HEY! I WANTED THAT ROOM YOU BASTARD!"_

"_G-guys…m-maybe w-we should calm d-down and-" Hinata started, trying to reason with Sakura, knowing her temper._

_Sasuke ignored Hinata and glared back at Sakura "YEAH? …WELL THAT'S TOO BAD! I DON'T GIVE A SHIT!"_

"_APOLOGIZE FOR CUTTING HINATA OFF, SASUKE!" Sakura screamed. She punched and kicked furiously. __**POW! BAM! SMASH! **__He smacked into the wall._

"…_ow…groan…" Sasuke blacked out. Sakura smirked in triumph and took the room. She glanced back as she saw a wave of sand pass._

"_SABAKU KYUUU!" Gaara yelled._

"_AAHHHHHHH! I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS! I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS!" Chouji screamed, overreacting as he got lifted into the air._

_Gaara sweatdropped and ignored him, "…This is my room. Now allow my sand to escort you out."_

"_OOH! DID I JUST HEAR THAT YOUTHFUL TENTEN IS MAKING THEM FOOD WITH A STEAK KNIFE?!" Lee suddenly burst out. "YOUTHFUL TENTEN! I WANT SOME STEAK!"_

_Chouji popped a chip in his mouth and looked up curiously and hungrily, "There's food?!"_

"_SHUT UP!" Matsuri, hiding behind the gourd that Gaara left on the floor during his "attack" on Chouji, suddenly screamed out. She eep'ed and put a hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. No one seemed to have heard anyway. She sighed and relaxed, trying to crawl to safety._

"_I hate today!" Sasuke groaned as he woke up from his position on the floor. Matsuri quickly crawled past him, not wanting to get stabbed or something._

_Sakura opened her door again and glared at him, "OF COURSE YOU DO MR. EMO AVENGER! NOW GO DO US ALL A FAVOR AND CRAWL INTO A CORNER AND GO CUT YOURSELF UNTIL YOU DIE!"_

"_S-Sakura-chan…I-I don't th-think that was v-very nice," Hinata said, trying to look stern but failing miserably as she twiddled her fingers._

"_OH, WHO GIVES A FUCK ANYMORE!?" Sakura shouted, throwing her hands in the air._

"_S-Sakura-chan!" Hinata cried, appalled at her friend's language._

"_EVERYONE JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!" Ino, Naruto, Temari, Sasuke, Chouji, and surprisingly Shino yelled. Shino added quietly, "Billy Bob is trying to sleep."_

End Flashback

"Hahahahahahaha!" Ino actually did fall out the tree. "Oh my god! Billy Bob? Hahahahaha! That-oh my god, that is the funniest thing ever!" she screamed, falling into a fit of laughter again.

Suddenly she became quiet and stared off into the distance. The others, still up in the tree, quickly jumped down, wondering what the hell had gotten her to shut up so quickly. They all quieted and followed her gaze through the foliage. They observed the empty field beyond for a few moments. "…I don't see anything…" Tenten mumbled, becoming irate. Ino quickly turned around, eyes widened. "I can't believe it!"

"What?" Sakura asked. Ino glared, "I can't believe Shika was giving Temari a hug! Ugh, I swear, one day I am going to-" Ino stopped short. Tenten was grinning slyly as she stared at Ino. Sakura had her eyebrow raised and she was smirking as if Ino had just proven something so obvious but it was a secret, which didn't make any sense and just proved how scary Sakura's look was. And Hinata had the kindness to turn away. Ino's eyes turned to slits, "What," she said/demanded, acid in her voice. Tenten's grin widened and Sakura just chuckled, "It's time for that _talk_."

Ino gulped and made a brave attempt to run but Hinata- the traitor- tripped her and grabbed her arm. A second later, Tenten grabbed her other arm and together they dragged her to Sakura's house.

* * *

Sasuke stared out the window, surveying the group. Everyone was having fun and he was the only one inside, aside from Gaara and Matsuri but that didn't count because they were with each other. He was so bored. It wasn't like he missed having friends ("you're lying," he told himself.) but at least before, he was training. Naruto was out with Kiba and Sakura was with her friends. He sighed. He could apologize but it was hopeless. Everyone hated him. He glared, why the hell did Tsunade do something like this anyway? Ugh. He saw a flash of pink and looked curiously as he saw Sakura leading Tenten and Hinata who were holding Ino to their house. She glanced up and made eye contact, holding it for a few seconds before she looked away, glaring in front of her.

He sighed again and turned around. He had never felt loneliness like this before. He lost his parents without a choice. They still loved him…Naruto and Sakura and the rest of the gang was another story. He didn't lose them, he gave them away. He had a choice…and he apparently made the wrong one but this was a stuck situation and now Sasuke had to live with what he couldn't have in front of his face everyday.

* * *

"…" Ino defiantly stared up at the three girls as they deposited her on Sakura's bed. She sighed heavily, "Sooo…what's all this about then?" Hinata gave her a pointed look. Sakura rolled her eyes skyward, trying to say this without setting Ino off, "Look um…remember when you forced me to spy on Temari and Shikamaru with you?"

"…Yeah…" Ino nodded slowly, looking even more confused. Tenten sighed and resisted the urge to smack her forehead. She put on an enthusiastic grin, "And remember when as soon as you heard Temari was going, you wanted to go grocery shopping with them?"

"Oh…yeah! That girl is SO annoying!" Ino said, looking at her friends to agree with her. They didn't. Tenten began snickering as she saw Ino's eyebrow twitch. "I mean, she's always around _my_ Shika. And she's always hugging him. And-and! She started calling Shika "Shika"! That nickname is reserved for me! And sometimes Naruto and Kiba but I digress…well I don't digress cause isn't she so annoying? I mean god, why is she always around him? He's not hers. He's mine!" Ino took a deep breath from her rant, frowned, (reminding Sakura of her 7-yr-old self) and, in a most-important-of-all tone, said, "I hate her."

"…" Sakura stared at her friend, her eyebrow raised again (damn that eyebrow!) Meanwhile, Tenten was looking like O.o

Hinata sat down next to Ino, "And…you don't see what we're trying to say here Ino?" Ino's eyes bugged out. "Finally," muttered Tenten. Sakura smacked her lightly as she held in a giggle. "You just called me Ino, without a –san or a –chan…this must be serious!" This time, Tenten actually did smack her forehead, "Ino. You have feelings for him. Even if your incredibly pig-headed, stubborn se-" Hinata coughed and Tenten took a deep breath, "The point is, even if you don't realize it, we do and so after much hardship I just went through, are you or are you not going to admit that you have feelings for Shikamaru?"

Ino looked up as she finally realized what they were trying to say but then her jaw dropped, "N-no! I don't! He's…he's my best friend…" Sakura rubbed her temples. Great. Just what she needed; Ino in denial. It might take _weeks_ to get her to see the truth, "Ino…you just said that Temari was always around _your_ _Shika_."

"And you're always jealous when you see Temari with him!" Tenten pointed out. "You basically said you'd kill Temari when you saw her hugging him." Ino growled at the reminder of that, "…well…she annoys me-"

"You're always talking about him. I see the way you smile," Hinata spoke up. "Even when you're complaining about him, you get the happiest look on your face."

"…" they calmly stared her down and waited for a response. Ino took a deep breath and glared back, "I don't know what you're talking about," she said nonchalantly. Hinata had to admit, it was very believable but to her best friends, it was obvious that she doubted herself.

"…Ino," Sakura started as she sighed. Ino ignored her, "I don't like him. When I said he was…_mine_, I meant he was my best friend first and he still is so I don't know why she's trying to steal him. And I don't like Temari because of…other things, not just because of Shika. Like…she was so mean when she beat Tenten! Remember? She let Tenten land on her fan and then she THREW her! Like a sack of potatoes!"

"I know!" Tenten said after growling at the reminder of her humiliating defeat, "GodDAMN, I hate that- ugh! She is soooo annoying!" Tenten paced the floor and Ino mentally cheered. One girl off her case. Now what to do about the other ones…?

"Hey…who do you like Hinata-chan?" Ino suddenly turned to the girl with a grin that already implied that she knew. Hinata's eyes widened as a red haze appeared on her cheeks. She leaned away from Ino's interrogating gaze and started stuttering. Sakura jumped in, "Oh, don't act like you don't know," Sakura grinned cheerfully as she joined in on the conversation. "It's more obvious than _your_ crush." Ino glared momentarily at her friend before grabbing a pillow and projecting it in her direction, "Shut up Sakura!" Sakura ducked and Tenten walked right into it. She turned to stare at Ino who immediately winced. She put on her best innocent face and whined, "Tenny…I didn't mean it! It was Sakura's fault! She's mean!" Ino screamed and dove to the other side of the bed, dragging Hinata with her, "Saaaaave me, Hinata!" Hinata giggled as she grabbed a pillow and brought it to their side of the bed.

As they forgot about their talk they were going to have and chucked pillows back and forth, Ino smiled. She was so wily.

* * *

"Well, I don't know what to tell you Sasuke," Kakashi said. Sasuke continued glaring as he saw Kakashi's eye crinkle, indicating he was grinning. "Hn…" Sasuke muttered in a tone that clearly said, "I demand to know why you are finding this amusing. Now tell me what the hell I should DO!"

"I don't see why you can't apologize," the silver haired man continued, ignoring the annoyance clearly on his student's face. He looked expectantly at the young boy sitting next to him. "…Hn." "Too much pride, huh?" Kakashi chuckled, "One day you'll realize that pride is a small price compared to friendship." Naruto and Sakura flashed through his mind but Sakura stayed a few seconds longer. "You'll even learn that's its nothing compared to women…" his voice brought Sasuke back to attention. He looked up sharply. What was he implying…? Did he know that Sasuke was just…? Kakashi laughed and stared back at Sasuke after seeing the shock in his eyes. "Maybe someday **soon**." Sasuke stood up, "Hn…Thanks Kakashi-sensei…" he quickly left.

"…" He stood outside the door for a second, fists clenched tightly. Why did the possibility of Kakashi knowing what he was thinking about scare him so much? _Cause it means it's __**real**__…_ His heart was beating in his chest just a little faster than it needed to as the whole talk flashed through his mind again. Sasuke quickly walked away from Kakashi's house and down the path into the forest.

"He's gone now," Anko called into the living room. "What was that about?" Kakashi came into the kitchen, "Oh nothing," he grinned. "Just planting the first seed in his head. It'll take awhile but eventually he'll fall for her. Neither know it but he needs her more than she needs him and they are perfect together." Anko smiled softly, "Well that's nice. That kid's finally got someone…well, almost." "Actually," Kakashi grinned, "She hates him-everything he's done to her and Naruto…but if he follows my advice, she'll learn to trust and forgive him again. This will be interesting…"

* * *

He paced back and forth, not knowing what the hell to do. He was not going to apologize. _One day you'll realize that pride is a small price compared to friendship_. He angrily pushed Kakashi's words out of his mind. He came back with them willingly, right? Wasn't that enough? And he endured no missions for 6 months. And that was _before_ house arrest with Jiraiya and Kakashi for another six months! They had NO idea how perverted those men could be when put together; it was pure torture. Why wasn't it enough?!

He groaned in aggravation. This was so confusing. If he didn't get some friends or at least get things back to the way they were, he would lose his mind from boredom (and subconsciously, loneliness) but he didn't want to apologize. Apologizing always made things awkward and besides, they wouldn't think he was telling the truth. He wasn't good at being sincere, even when he was sincere.

And, to make things worse, he kept arguing with Sakura. He did things to make her mad and he realized it was on purpose even if it wasn't on a wholly conscious level…and all so she would talk to him. But what did that say about how desperate he was? Maybe…he should take Kakashi's advice.

* * *

"Well, I don't know how we survived yesterday, but what are we going to eat?" Iruka asked. Kakashi didn't answer and instead kept flipping through the channels. Genma and Shizune were upstairs. Gai, who was sitting at the kitchen table, playing cards with Kurenai and Asuma, looked up, "He is right! What _are_ we going to eat?"

"Don't look at me," Kurenai said, placing down a card. Asuma nodded, "Not unless you want your kitchen blown up." She rolled her eyes, "Oh, it was _one_ time!"

Kakashi finally contributed to the conversation, "We're adults. Every man for himself," and with that, he got up and walked to the door. "Where are you going?" Asuma asked curiously. "Out to order some take-out or something." Anko's food senses must have been tingling for right at that moment, she came running down the stairs, "Order me something. And make sure there's dango!" And with that, she went back upstairs. "Oh, order me something too," Asuma said. Kakashi grinned, "Of course…not. Ja!" Asuma opened his mouth to reply but the slam of the front door cut him off.

"Okay," Anko said, stepping back in the room. Genma looked expectant, but Shizune was very annoyed. "So here's the deal: I will not blackmail you. I will just, every now and then, when I'm extremely bored and need entertainment, try and embarrass you. You of course, will comply with my wishes, keeping your relationship a secret but allowing me to tease you about how you _should _be in a relationship. This, of course, will be in addition to the fact that I will be trying to get you caught every waking minute. Also…you might have to get me dango whenever I want…and other food items. And I might as well add on the fact that you will also do whatever I want."

"Anko, that IS blackmail…or extortion. One of those!"

"Oh…I guess it is," Anko grinned evilly.

Shizune stared at her for about a minute before getting up, "I'm leaving. Whatever." Anko grinned, sliding in front of the door, "Not so fast. I didn't even mention your **sex life****.**" Shizune looked at her in horror while Genma grinned, basking in his own glory as he thought about that aforementioned sex life.

* * *

Naruto grumbled and crossed his arms, assuming a pout. Ino glanced at him, rolling her eyes. He growled, _I want attention!_ "So! What do you guys want to do?!" Shikamaru gave an unintelligible response while Ino ignored the both of them altogether. Naruto's eyes narrowed. It was so boring without people to tease, annoy, bother, or prank. Kiba and Akamaru were off doing doggy things and Neji and Tenten sorta…disappeared. Temari and Kankuro, as they often did, went off to town. "You guys suck!" When he received no answer, he pouted again before getting up and walking out. But as soon as he stepped out, he realized he had nowhere to go. "I'll go see Teme and Sakura-chan! Or Gaara…I guess," and with that he ran towards the other house.

Sasuke's I'm-about-to-be-annoyed-by-Naruto senses were tingling and he had the sudden urge to yell that out and promptly run to his room where he would then hide but he neither had the motivation nor the want to ruin his reputation and so sat there on the couch, trying to look unnoticeable. Sakura was sitting across the room, reading a book, and ignoring his presence entirely. Her eyebrows came together in confusion when she heard something and she looked up from her book, glaring across at Sasuke. He looked up and raised an eyebrow in question. Then out of nowhere, Naruto bounded in and landed on the seat next to her, "Hiya Sakura-chan! Teme."

"Dobe," Sasuke nodded. Naruto turned to Sakura again, "Sakura-chan I'm bored!"

"What do you want me to do about!?" she exclaimed, punching him on the head. He flew to the other couch and landed on Sasuke who immediately pushed him onto the floor, looking in disgust at the orange-clad boy, "Idiot." Naruto glared up at his…friend, "Shut up! Teme!" "Dobe." "Teme!" "Dobe." "Teme!" "Dobe."

Sakura looked on in amusement, it was just like old times way back before…Sasuke betrayed Konoha. Her smile faded and she got up, heading upstairs. Sasuke and Naruto continued arguing but not without Sasuke noticing the change in her attitude. He frowned. He hated that- how she almost let herself tolerate him but then realized what she was doing and immediately stopped herself. But most of all, he hated how affected he was by it.

* * *

_One Week Later_

One week later, nothing was better. If anything it was far worse. On a good day, you would see Sasuke and Sakura fighting across the table or Naruto flying out Ino's bedroom window and you would hear chaos and confusion. On a bad day…well on a bad day, the author of this fic would have to change it to M if she released that information. And to make it worse, the water was off.

"Okay!" Sakura announced after lunch, the kitchen table all looking up to listen. "I've had enough, I'm going to Tsunade."

"…" no one wanted to admit that they wanted her to go too because at the same time going to Tsunade and asking for help was like…like admitting that she was right about them and this giant experiment. It was admitting defeat. Sasuke and Gaara frowned.

"I don't think you should do that," Sasuke stated. Sakura blatantly ignored him, biting into an apple. When Lee decided to agree, then she got angry, "Well that's too damn bad because none of us have taken proper showers in days and much offense, Sasuke and Lee are starting to really stink. I mean," and here she turned to them, "Is it really that much to ask to quit training hardcore when you know you are not going to clean all the sweat and B.O. off of you?! Jeez, it smells like a gym locker when you guys are around. Have some consideration!"

Gaara made absolute sure that she was done before starting, "Sa-"

But Sakura turned her back on them and walked out of the kitchen and slammed the front door on the way out the house. As soon as she was out, she began walking in the direction of the hill, over which lay the rest of the town. As she passed the other house, the front door opened and Ino walked out, dragging Shikamaru behind her. Sakura glanced down at their clasped hands and smirked and Ino immediately dropped Shikamaru's hand as they approached her.

"Where are you going?"

"To Tsunade…" Sakura trailed off as Shikamaru got closer. She took an involuntary step back, "So...you guys are deprived of water and showers too?"

"Yeah, I was just going to push him in a lake," Ino said, shrugging. She turned and began walking with Sakura, "But we can use him as evidence instead. Come on Shika!"

He trudged along, muttering under his breath.

* * *

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You mean, you really just think it was a _mistake_ I turned your water off?!" Tsunade exclaimed, leaning back in her chair as she wiped tears out of her eyes.

Sakura faltered, "…well, it wasn't?"

As Tsunade collapsed into another round of laughter, Ino's eyebrows twitched. Shikamaru looked warily at her and he and Sakura exchanged alarmed looks.

"WH-"

"Er…" Sakura hastily cut in, stepping in front of Ino as Shikamaru discreetly restrained her. "_Why_ is the water turned off, Tsunade…sama?"

"A-hem," Tsunade clasped her hands and assumed a business-like tone while the three friends immediately stiffened for the blow. "I have…been getting complaints." She stated simply.

She let the information sink in and they stood there restlessly, not understanding but not wanting to say so. Sakura shifted her weight from one foot to the other while Ino angrily clutched Shikamaru's hands, trying to pull them away from her mouth so she could yell at Tsunade. He kept his grip firm.

"…Well…?" Tsunade said, amused at their fear and nervousness. "Would you care to guess at who I'm talking about?"

"…Er…neighbors…complaining about our…noise?" Shikamaru ventured. He winced when her gaze fell on him. He looked down at the floor, feeling like a child all over again. _Troublesome…_

"No…but they did also…" Tsunade trailed off. Then she looked at them all in turn, "But no, I'm talking about your parents. Let me explain," she said, seeing their looks of utter confusion. "You see…some complain about laziness." Her gaze landed on Shikamaru accusingly. Ino giggled. "While others…say spoiled." The smile immediately dropped from Ino's face and she crossed her arms and pouted.

"But all are worried about their children working too hard, not remembering how to have fun, not remembering to just _breathe_," she leaned back and folded her arms, letting the words sink in.

"…So…let me get this straight," Ino said. "They want us to breathe, so you stop the water and we're forced to breathe in the horrible stench that is boy?!"

Tsunade frowned, "No. No I'm stopping the water until you guys can get along and be responsible. Arguing and fighting all the damn time; honestly it's like you're 12 again. I'm stopping the water because your arguing is getting in the way of the real goal; bonding and enjoying your youth! So now you're going to have to find a way to stop arguing, be mature, but also learn how to act like the teenagers you are. Sound hard?"

They all nodded.

"Well…too bad. I suggest buying alcohol."

"Tsunade-sama…we're…_sixteen_," Ino said confusedly. Sakura and Shikamaru just stared.

"Oh…oh yeah." _Never stopped me._

They turned to leave. "Oh! And another thing!" They turned back around apprehensively. "This is a hint; your parents don't like your lack of _socialization_. You guys are already among the best of the best and yet, you don't even stop and take the time to smell the roses."

"I smell roses almost everyday!" Ino called over her shoulder but it was with a smile and Tsunade leaned back in her chair, thinking she already saw a slight improvement in the girl's attitude.

* * *

"Soo, that's the deal," Sakura finished briskly. She sat back down next to Ino in the living room. She had a sneaking suspicion that Shikamaru was going to fall asleep any second now; on the other side of Ino, he had placed his legs on the table in front of them and his head was being held by his hand. He was making no effort to pay attention or help Ino and Sakura explain things.

Naruto raised his hand. Sakura pointed at him and said, "That's not entirely necessary but yes Naruto?"

"I know this is a group meeting," he started, throwing a ball back to Kiba as Akamaru ran to intercept it. "But why are you in our house…? And…why isn't everyone here?"

"Because! We came here and you guys were present!" Sakura crossed her arms that showed there was no room for discussion. "I mean, it's not like we won't see the others! Just tell whoever isn't here right now."

Naruto and Ino raised their hands and Sakura sighed tiredly when she picked Ino who immediately stuck her tongue out at her "rival." Naruto returned a rude hand gesture and missed the ball Kiba had thrown back to him which only made Ino giggle.

"Ino…no one needs to raise their hands…especially not you! You're the leader of this meeting as well!" Ino shrugged, "I just wanted to know if we _had_ to tell the others."

Sakura stared at her incredulously, "I can't think of any reason why we WOULDN'T! Obviously they'll keep arguing and then we won't have water and where is the positive in that Ino?"

"…well…." Ino put a finger to her lip, "We would see Tenten and Temari fighting…"

Sakura sighed; she was in this alone, "No. We must tell everyone. So…Naruto you can tell Sasuke-"

"But…I don't even live with him. Wouldn't it be easier if you told him?" Naruto was frantically waving his arm despite the fact that he had already said his piece. Sakura's eyebrow twitched, "No…and put your hand down!"

"Yes ma'am."

"And don't call me ma'am!"

"It is actually very unyouthful," Lee interjected and here he decided to raise his hand from where he sat next to Naruto. Sakura sighed again, "Lee?"

"Yes Sakura, my cherry blossom, I was wondering why it wouldn't be easier if you told Sasuke-san?" Sakura opened her mouth and noticed Shikamaru and Ino paying extra attention now. She rolled her eyes, "Because, Sasuke is, to put it simply, a jerk, and I do not wish to associate with such jerkiness, lest his jerkiness rub off on me and then I too will become a fire-breathing jerkwad full of creepy eye jutsus and swords and snakes and…ahem…I feel my point was made…"

Everyone was giving her odd stares. Matsuri and Hinata, who were sitting next to Kiba, had the decency not to look at her like she was insane but she felt there was still some wariness in their eyes. Once again Lee raised his hand. "You really don't have to _do_ that!" Sakura ground out between her teeth.

"Don't you think you not telling Sasuke-san kind of defeats the purpose of trying to get along Sakura-chan? I don't think you should avoid giving him necessary information."

"_You_ can give it to him Lee. Or Matsuri or Hinata. Or they can tell someone in our house who will in turn tell him. I don't think I need to be designated to do this task!"

"Well…no one was really _designating_ you per se…" Shikamaru trailed off as Sakura gave him a wicked glare. Ino patted his hand, "It's best to just stay quiet at times like these Shika."

_And what kind of time is this!?_ Sakura wondered. She looked at Ino's sage face as she lectured Shikamaru and grew more annoyed. _She acts like this happens on a daily basis, like this is routine!_

"I. Am. Out. Of. Here." Sakura gritted her teeth as Ino gave her a pitying look. Lee raised his arm again, "So are you telling Sasuke-san then? Or shall I tell him that since you didn't want to-"

"Of course you shouldn't tell him that I didn't want to!" Sakura looked incredulously at Lee. "Then he'll know."

"Well…" Lee tilted his head. "But isn't that the point?"

"Yeah Sakura!" Naruto chimed in. "Why would you do things that make it obvious that you don't like someone if you're not even going to let them see the things you do? Then they might think you like them! Of course…by the way you broke his ribs one by one that day, I'm sure he already knows that you don't…."

"…"

In the practically palpable silence that followed, Sakura quickly saw that every face showed shock. Her eyes last found Ino's…that was the worst because in them she saw the truth. The fact that even Ino was shocked, that even she had a bit of wariness and repulsion etched in her expression, really scared Sakura. Especially the fact that above all of that, what shone the most clearly was worry. She could see it clearly; Ino was worried about her and probably her sanity and now she was going to ask a bunch of questions and they were going to have a long talk about all of this. Their staring contest seemed to last ages and then suddenly it was over as Kiba found his voice.

"You did WHAT!?"

"Sakura…that…that is not youthful…" Lee sounded confused and a little hurt as though she had betrayed_ him_ or something.

"…One by one…" Matsuri wasn't really addressing Sakura but looking down at the ground. She vaguely rubbed at her own ribs as though imagining how it would feel to have Sakura break hers.

"Sakura…" Ino stood up. Her friend quickly turned around and walked out of the door. Ino's eyebrows furrowed and she followed after her. "Sakura! Come on, is that true?"

Sakura frowned and half-turned to face her friend. Was it that unbelievable? Was it that horrible? "Yes."

Ino sucked in a breath, rocked on her heels for a second, then impulsively reached out and quickly hugged her, "I'm sorry. I didn't know you felt that angry or sad or-or upset? But you should really tell us if you're feeling that bad."

She watched as her friend's expression changed to that of great confusion, "Wait…what?"

"I'm sure we could've helped you somehow…Not be as sad, I mean."

"That's it?" Sakura scrutinized her friend's face, trying to discern the truth. Ino tilted her head, "Well yeah."

"You're scolding me about the fact that I downplayed my emotions, not the fact that I cruelly broke Sasuke's ribs one by one?"

The blonde laughed at the incredulous look on her friend's face, then reached a finger towards her forehead. Sakura immediately swatted her hand away and glared but Ino poked her anyway, "Of course forehead. Sasuke's a big boy and I'm sure he's gotten worse from Orochimaru, Itachi and even Naruto in regular training!" then she shrugged, "Even if he hasn't, it wasn't like he didn't deserve it, the ass. You were upset. No big deal."

* * *

"And everything was fine between you two after that?" They were in the trees again, where no one could find them.

"Yup. She's off talking to Hinata now. So I guess you're next…"

"Nah…I already talked to her," Tenten stated, leaning back so that she was hanging from her branch by her knees. Ino looked extremely confused but Tenten took no notice as she absentmindedly studied an apple at every angle. Finally she seemed to be satisfied and continued, "She told me when it happened. When they first brought him back and the doctor reported all his problems. That's when Sakura told me."`

"She didn't say anything to me."

"Ino…" Tenten looked up quickly but Ino was looking into the surrounding trees, effectively avoiding her eyes. "It wasn't personal."

"I'm her best friend Tenten! Of course it was! We've known each other so long…why would she keep secrets…"

"Listen, I know you guys are like twins with a borderline telepathic connection but maybe for that reason she didn't tell you. Maybe she knew you'd think of her differently," Ino opened her mouth but Tenten shot her a look and continued, "Or maybe she knew you'd overreact…you tend to do that."

Ino closed her mouth and pondered her friend's words. Tenten took this opportunity to take a big bite out of her apple. She closed her eyes and savored the taste. She opened an eye and saw the blonde still thinking and thought of a joke about that fact but stifled it. She closed her eyes again, "I'm the understanding one, you know that."

"I know…" Ino mumbled. Tenten sighed, "Look, if you had done something and you weren't quite sure if you were a monster because of that, who would you go to? Hinata who tends to, bless her, always avoid telling the truth if she thinks it will hurt us. You, who overreacts about most things and can't go a story without interrupting or questioning something. Or me, who listens until you're finished, always asks if you want to talk about it before I even satisfy any questions I have, and gives you an honest answer at the end?"

"…"

"She just needed to get herself together after they brought him back. She was a mess."

"She cried!?" Ino said worriedly. Tenten shook her head, "No…I think she wanted to."

"Wait…she wanted to cry?" She waited for her friend to stop chewing. Tenten swallowed, then wiped some of the juice off her face and continued, "I think she thought it would make her more human, if she felt bad about what she had done…She was so angry though, she felt justified. I think if she feels anything towards Sasuke other than anger and the remnants of her love, its just guilt. She told me later that she did feel guilty after a few weeks. She said the one by one was probably overkill."

Ino giggled and Tenten sighed, happy that this little issue was behind them. She swung up onto her branch so she was upright again and surveyed her surroundings with mild interest. Ino held out her hand, "Lemme have a bite, Ten."

She tossed the apple to her, "Finish it."

"Thanks I planned on it," Ino crunched noisily and grinned as her friend rolled her eyes.

* * *

"Well…" Hinata gazed out the window as she dried a bowl. "I kind of agree with Ino."

"Please don't tell me I should've talked about my emotions more," Sakura rolled her eyes as she handed Hinata a plate. She giggled, "Not exactly. Just that you were justified. It doesn't make you a monster because you prolonged his pain in a fight. It just reflects how much he hurt you…"

"Yeah…it wasn't necessarily a fight though…" At Hinata's look of shock, she quickly tried to clarify, "I came late to Kakashi-sensei, Naruto and Jiraiya-sama's fight against Orochimaru and Sasuke. Orochimaru was dead and Sasuke was just getting up and…I don't know, he looked like he was going to attack so I took advantage that they didn't know I was coming…and…they eventually stopped me. I didn't break all his ribs…"

"You still feel guilty though," the dark haired girl said matter-of-factly. Sakura focused on scrubbing a particular spot on a plate and didn't answer. Hinata continued, "Obviously at the end of the day, your thoughts matter the most. If you think you were wrong, nothing we say will change it. You could just apologize."

"He doesn't deserve it!" she crushed the plate. Hinata sighed, "Sakura-chan…"

"The stain wouldn't come off," Sakura brushed off her friend's admonishment and threw the pieces into the trash. "Seriously, after everything he did, he doesn't deserve an apology! No matter what I did!"

"Oh, so you do think he deserved the rib thing. K-keep washing," She gently reminded her friend. Sakura plunged her hands back into the soapy water, "Ughh, but I don't Hinata and I know you know that."

She nodded, "Well then you should apologize. R-regardless of whether someone else apologizes, you should always apologize if you know you're wrong. He hurt you so you hurt him back but if you feel like you were too cruel, then you already know what you have to do."

"…" Sakura picked up the last dish and washed it slowly, thinking. "But he's so…ugh!"

"I know," Hinata said understandingly. "You holding onto all the anger only makes you feel bad though."

"I can't believe I have to apologize to him," Sakura pouted as she gave the dish to Hinata. "How is this fair?"

Hinata giggled, "Sakura-chan, life's not fair. We of all people should know. And you don't have to-"

"I know I know," she grumbled. Hinata threw the towel to her and she caught it and dried her hands. "Y-you might as well do it now," she suggested. Sakura grumbled a bit then squared her shoulders and walked into the living room where everyone was. Hinata followed after, shaking her head.

"Ahem," Sakura cleared her throat quite obnoxiously and stood in the center of the room. Naruto waved. Everyone looked up from their lounging positions. "I. Have. An. Important…Announcement."

She saw alarm on almost everyone's face, then Naruto suddenly scrambled up from his seat, "I think I heard Ino calling me for bedtime!"

Sakura mutely watched as he ran, leaving only a trail of dust. Her eyebrow twitched and she turned back around, her mouth open and eyes closed, ready to deliver her speech. But everyone was already making similar excuses.

"I have a stomach ache," Lee said. He hastily ran upstairs. Chouji suddenly held his stomach, "I think I just caught it."

He too ran. Shino vaguely disappeared and Sasuke didn't bother making excuses but just edged out. Matsuri had the decency to look a bit attentive despite her wariness but Gaara doubled back, "Trust me, it's better this way," and grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the room until she too was gone.

Sakura stood there, silently fuming. Hinata patted her hand. "Am I really that bad!?"

"You have been a little…stressed….lately," her friend said delicately. Sakura groaned.

"Maybe it would be better without an audience anyway," Hinata offered. Sakura agreed halfheartedly. Then she bit her lip, "Or maybe it's a sign I really _don't_ have to apologize to Sasuke?"

Hinata gave her a look but Sakura plowed on, "It was almost 2 years ago! He probably doesn't even remember. And everyone says he deserved it anyway…right?!"

"But y-you remember. And I told you, you don't _have_ to do anything. It's always your choice, Sakura. But I-I think I'll go to bed now too," she touched Sakura's arm, "Goodnight Sakura-chan."

"Goodnight Hinata-chan," she said miserably.

* * *

Sakura got ready for bed that night, her mind whirling with everything that happened that day; they had only been here for a week and a half and it already felt like forever. Just ten days and they were no closer to putting aside their differences than when they started. Every person had someone they conflicted with…except Hinata and Matsuri. And the other house was so much worse. She wondered if Tsunade would keep all their water off or if one house could get theirs back if they cooperated. She rolled her eyes, throwing her dirty clothes in the laundry basket. _I seriously doubt it._

There was a knock on the door. "Sa-"

"Hold on," she called, throwing her pajama shirt over her head. It was a deep voice. _Gaara…? What could he want?_ She padded over to the door and opened it to reveal Sasuke. Her eyes hardened.

"Sakura I-"

She began closing the door, saying loudly, "I'm really tired Sasuke. Can't this wait?"

"No," he said sharply, blocking the door before it could snap in his face. He pried it open, pushed into her room and then closed it after himself. "I came to apologize."

Sakura faltered.

* * *

**Well, this is getting mighty long so I'll end it here. Have no fear, readers. I will update soon haha. I didn't troll you, I just didn't want to rush the apology. I haven't decided the outcome yet so yeah. And the chapter was getting kind of long. Thoughts? Opinions? Predictions? Who knows, if it's a good idea, I might change things I have in mind.**


	5. Working It Out

**Thanks for the reviews guys! Not trolling! Hahaha, next chapter is here :D READ THE AN AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER PLEASE. Lol it's semi-important. **

**Since no one had any predictions or ideas on how the outcome of the apology should be, I went with my original plan! Hahaha so beware. No just kidding.**

**Disclaimer! If I owned Naruto, I would probably not be trying to calculate the cheapest possible way to purchase a Gameboy 3DS. Omg, I can't wait till Pokemon X and Y! Lmao please read and review.**

* * *

**When Tsunade's Bored**

**Chapter 5: Working It Out**

* * *

"Tenten."

There was a mumbled more-than-half-asleep response as the girl shifted in her bed. The boy's pale eyes narrowed as he stared down at her.

"Tenten."

"Hmm…"

"Training."

"Get out."

"Tenten," he said calmly as he held a kunai an inch above her throat. She was rolling onto her back, about to face him when she flung her right hand towards him. She quickly swung her arm back in the opposite direction, yanking the kunai away from him with a chakra string and flinging it across the room where it stuck into the wall.

"Nice," he commented, impressed. She rolled away from him, eyes still closed. "Get out of my room!" her left arm swung back towards him and the kunai was again sent speeding through the air, this time towards his head. He caught it between his forefinger and thumb, then tossed it to her floor carelessly.

"Oh my god," her muffled voice came from under the blanket. "What time is it even? And you better say, at the very least 10. If its anything before that, walk away and I _may_ spare your life. I most likely won't but there's a chance at least to-"

"It's 4:30," he said nonchalantly.

"Jesus Christ, Neji!" she was getting agitated but still sounded drowsy, Neji noted. "Get outtt of my roooooommmmmm."

"It's training," he insisted. He raised an eyebrow at her half-asleep form. "Or did you think because we moved to a different location that we weren't going to have that anymore?"

"Ughhhhhhh but we only have morning training once a week. Tomorrow we can do it," Tenten's eyes were still closed as she tried to reason with him.

"…"

"Neji? Yes? Tomorrow instead?"

"Hn."

"…" She snuggled deeper into her covers, feeling sleep coming back to her. Until she sensed something, "Stop. Staring. At me! Why are you still here?"

"Training, Tenten."

She flung back the covers with a whiny monstrous sound, and sat up, glaring at him, "Why are you even in here!? What if I…wasn't decent or something?"

"But you are decent."

"What if I_ wasn't_?"

"I knew you were. I could see your clothes through the blanket."

Tenten yawned and climbed out of bed, "So you're telling me you looked at me with your Byakugan to see if I had clothes on? Umm…creepy."

She walked over to her dresser and Neji realized she was only wearing a baggy shirt which fell down to her mid-thigh. His cheeks turned a very slight pink as he asserted, "I did not use Byakugan. I saw your shirt outline and the blankets weren't covering your shoulder. I was _not_ looking at you beneath the bedsheets. That is…most dishonorable."

"Turn around," she told him as her drawers scraped open. She grinned cheekily at his turned back, "Not that it matters. You've probably already seen me naked. Perv."

"The Byakugan is not like that," his irritated voice drifted over to her. She stifled a snicker and began stripping as she continued goading him, "I know you can see through people. And walls. And trees. So all those times I was in the shower? All you had to do was look right through."

"We can only see chakra systems, bones or the outline, _not_ naked bodies. Ask any Hyuuga!"

"Sure sure," she nodded, throwing her shirt to the ground. "Of course they would _say_ that. They can't have it being common knowledge. I'm sure as soon as Hyuugas' eyes are activated the first time, they are told never to release that information!"

Neji stood up and whipped around to tell her a thing or two but his eyes widened as he realized she was only in a bra and underwear. She frowned, "Neji, just because you stare at me through the walls doesn't mean I want to be aware of it. Don't just blatantly _stare_ at me!"

"Ughhhh!" he briskly spun on his heel and walked to the door. "I will be in the forest waiting."

As he firmly shut the door, she burst out in giggles. _Serves him right for waking me up so early._

"So," she stated, gingerly stepping around Neji into the clearing he was in. She looked around, "There's nothing here."

Neji frowned, "I know…we may have to make targets some other time."

"Orrrr," she drawled, twirling two kunai. "You can be my target."

"As much as I'd love that," he gave her a look and she rolled her eyes. He continued, "I think we should just spar." She tossed the kunai in his general direction and began stretching. "And to think we could've both just slept instead," she quipped. She was still stretching when she looked at him seriously, "No Byakugan. I do not feel like getting my chakra blocked this early."

"Then what do you propose we do?" Neji watched her tilt her head as she thought. Finally she beamed (evilly, Neji noted), "We each get one weapon only. No jutsus, nothing. Just sparring with our one weapon until one of us gets made to yield, or gets "killed." 3/5 wins. Sound good?"

He narrowed his eyes, "Yeah, I love that I'm at a disadvantage."

"You never know when you may need a weapon. This is the perfect time for you to practice," Tenten grinned cheekily. He rolled his eyes and gestured at her mockingly, "Ladies first."

She pulled out her nunchaku. Neji noticed they were only wooden with a metal chain, no special spikes or anything. He stood, pondering that for a bit, then pulled out two kunai. She opened her mouth to object and he smoothly cut over her, "Your nunchaku has two pieces, I get two knives. Stop acting like you're not going to win this anyway."

He was right; by the end, he had only managed to win twice and one was just luck. For that match, he went entirely on the defensive until she lunged too far and he managed to grab her, spin her around to his chest and hold one of the kunai to her throat. She had paid him back in the last match, however, when she managed to flip over him, angling the nunchaku in a way that the chain ended up around his neck and _he_ ended up on the ground.

She unabashedly smiled down at him and he rubbed his neck, looking at her reproachfully. "Whatever," she waved him off. "It's what you get. I don't understand the point of morning practice anyway."

"Like I've told you about two hundred times before," here he sat up and crossed his legs, gesturing for her to sit across from him. "In the morning, everything is coming to life. We meditate at this time so we can feel the natural energy around us more clearly while it's in its raw state."

She plopped down against a tree and assumed the same position. She decided against a retort because really, they had this conversation _more_ than two hundred times and she was already beginning to feel dawn. It was around six am and she would never admit it but the morning training was worth it for the feeling that washed over her at this time. She really could feel the energy of everything and she always felt better, more relaxed somehow. Neji had told her once that it had something to do with their chakra reacting to their surroundings but it never made any sense to her.

"Close your eyes," Neji gently reminded her.

"But your Byakugan is on, Neji," Tenten pointed out. He made no move to respond and she grinned, shook her head and closed her eyes again. He observed the girl for a moment, then went back to his inner musings and watching their surroundings. He liked that despite her complaining she still always trained with him. He knew she liked the meditation part to some extent but she hated waking up early. It had taken him forever to get her to agree to it but he was glad. It had gotten awful lonely in the mornings after his father died. It was nice to have someone he could trust to share the mornings with again. She probably had no idea how much it meant to him but he was not planning on changing that any time soon.

After an hour, he stood up and she cracked open an eye to look around. He gave her an amused look and nodded and she popped up as well, stretching exuberantly. "Feeling rested?" Neji asked knowingly. She stuck out her tongue and pretended to look cross, "Not as rested as I would have been if I stayed in bed."

He shook his head and they walked back to the house in a companionable silence. As soon as they entered, Tenten was halfway up the steps, calling behind her, "I'll be right back." She raced up the remaining steps and quickly ran into the bathroom.

When she had sprinted back down into the kitchen, she was disappointed to see Neji, fresh and clean, already standing at the counter, preparing food. She came over to stand next to him, "You always beat me to the kitchen," she pouted. He glanced over at her and then flicked her hair, almost curiously.

"You've seen my hair in braids before," she rolled her eyes but immediately brightened when he finished getting their meals ready. He always cooked a few buns on the side of the main dish; a bunch of fruit cut up and mixed with milk and honey. The first time she had it, Tenten almost died, it was so good. After thanking Neji and setting up the table, they immediately dug in.

There were a few moments of companionable silence, then Neji began, "So…do you like it here?"

Tenten actually paused to think about the question, which surprised her. She thought it would've been an immediate, heartfelt no. Finally she replied, "I like some things. I like that I'm not always alone. It's kind of comforting to know you can have your own space but that if you need to talk to someone, they're right across the hall. Tsunade did have one thing right, if nothing else. You, me, Naruto, Lee…I can tell it's a lot better for us. I'm not too sure about Sasuke…he acts like he's still isolated from everyone."

"He is," Neji said. At Tenten's questioning look, he continued, "He has no friends; he hasn't reconciled his past yet. Naruto forgives him but things are still strange between them and Sakura…well you know her better than I do but I can feel the hate coming from her sometimes. He may learn to work it all out, I don't know…"

"…hmm," Tenten fell silent as she pondered Sasuke. But then she sighed and gave up as she continued the original thought, "But I still hate all the fighting. And people are annoying…"

"Is that why you disappear into the trees like antisocial monkeys?" Neji smirked. She ignored him, "How do _you_ like it, Neji?"

"It's okay," he shrugged. "The Hyuuga compound can get a bit stifling. I don't have to keep up appearances here. I can train with more people too. Mostly I stay in my room though."

"Which kind of defeats the whole purpose!" Tenten exclaimed. He smirked, "Like hiding in trees all day?"

She scoffed and went back to eating her fruit.

* * *

It was around ten when people finally began emerging from their rooms. The sounds of people arguing drifted down the stairs and then Kiba and Ino came into view, stopping when they saw Tenten and Neji drinking tea in companionable silence.

"You two look cozy!" Kiba grinned and Ino rolled her eyes, sitting down next to Tenten. Kiba busied himself with finding some meat for him and Akamaru.

"You two _do_ look cozy," Ino whispered confidentially, pulling at Tenten's braid. Said girl batted her hand away, _This is why I wear my hair in buns._

Kiba sat down across from them with a hunk of meat, some bread, and Akamaru in his lap. Ino swiped a piece of meat from his plate and he bared his teeth menacingly but she just smiled. That immediately dropped from her face as Temari and Shikamaru entered together with Kankuro and Naruto trailing behind.

"Since when are you awake before noon?" Neji raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru who scratched his chin and yawned. Temari answered for him, smirking, "I woke him up."

Ino, who was walking to the refrigerator, casually threw over her shoulder, "_I_ would have let him sleep."

"Eh. It wasn't that bad," Shikamaru shrugged. Ino's jaw dropped and she momentarily forgot about the cup she was planning on pouring, "Every time I wake you up, you throw a fit and act like I'm torturing you!"

"He probably just doesn't want to wake up to something so jarring," Temari said innocently as she too sat down. She picked an apple out of the basket on the table and began expertly slicing the skin off.

"…Which is why I'm so surprised he survived _this_ morning," Ino tilted her head and looked back innocently. Naruto snickered behind his hand and the two girls glared at each other.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru dropped down into a seat and placed his head in his arms.

"Now that we're all here," Neji cut in. "Let's get this over with."

There was silence. Naruto looked around, "Ne...what are we sposed to do?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and picked his head up, "Troublesome. Tsunade said we need to find a way to make things better between all of us. We fight over everything."

"Well…" Temari sniffed haughtily and smirked in Ino's direction, "If peasants knew their place…"

"She doesn't even go here!" Ino exclaimed to the rest of the group. They raised their eyebrows and she spoke to Temari directly, "Last time I checked, _your_ 'place' was 600 miles north of here! Get out of this country if you don't wanna be around 'peasants'!"

As they glared at each other again, Tenten turned to Neji, "So…swimming in the lake later?" Neji sighed, "I guess we're going to have to. A shower doesn't look imminent."

Naruto turned to Kiba, "Ten bucks says they fight." Kiba shook his head, doubting it.

"Back to the task at hand…" Shikamaru tried dropping a hint. Temari smiled at him which only made Ino bristle. She said sweetly, "Of course Shika."

Ino growled, "That is MY name!" She turned to the rest of the table, "You wanna know how to make things better? Send these two," here she pointed at Kankuro and Temari, "Back to their little desert where they can frolic with puppets in the wind!"

Naruto giggled and Kiba laughed uproariously. Neji and Tenten sighed. Shikamaru groaned. Temari and Kankuro glared back at Ino, then Temari pointed at her with her knife, "Are you gonna make me?"

Ino picked up a butter knife, "Are you asking me to?"

Tenten decided to step in, "_I_ have an idea."

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" they both pointed their weapons at her. She raised an eyebrow at their knives, then nonchalantly brought out three of her own. The blondes hastily put theirs away, sitting down and mumbling like three year olds.

"An-e-ways…we need rules," Tenten said. "General rules. And then consequences for breaking them."

"Ooh!" Kiba waved his arm around to get everyone's attention. "Like if you eat someone else's food, they get to eat you!"

"Er…no," Tenten sweatdropped. "Like…no fighting after nine."

"We can do it before that though?" Kankuro raised an eyebrow. Tenten sighed, "Look there's no way we're ever going to stop fighting. We might as well manage it as best as we can. Everyone should write down rules they want to add and we'll vote on them and then we can all come up with consequences."

There was another silence, then Neji exasperatedly said, "There's no paper."

After they finally found paper and after they all spent about twenty minutes trying to think of things, Tenten and Shikamaru stood at the head of the table with the papers. They both read silently, then looked up at the waiting group in complete irritation.

"Since your ideas are all complete nonsense, except ours and Neji's," here Neji smirked. "We have taken it upon ourselves to make a list without you. This is now a dictatorship, bitches."

"I thought my idea was pretty good!" Naruto was upset. Ino and Kiba nodded in agreement. Tenten snatched a paper out of Shikamaru's hand and squinted at it for a second before turning it around to the rest of the group, "You just drew a picture of an orange house. With ramen noodles surrounding it."

"Yeah!" Naruto grinned. "We should paint the house orange. That's a happy color-"

"It's scientifically proven to annoy the shit out of people," Shikamaru stated.

"…"

"So…yeah it's decided. Me and Shikamaru are clearly the only capable ones of running this house," Neji cleared his throat and Tenten added, "And Neji will stay on as our advisor."

"We need to establish tasks, first and foremost," Shikamaru said lazily. "It's troublesome almost starving and walking around puppets and empty Instant Ramen cups on the floor."

"Exactly," Tenten said. "Everyone is responsible for their own damn rooms. And their stuff. Temari and Kiba can do the food shopping. Kankuro and Ino can clean everything downstairs and I'll do the sweeping and mopping. Naruto, Neji and Shikamaru can do the laundry, the bathrooms and the dishes. Now, most importantly, who's going to cook?"

Nobody volunteered. Neji spoke up, "Let's split it. Every week, someone new takes over and each day, they have a different person to help them."

"Huh?" Naruto scratched his head and they sighed. Shikamaru explained, "If it's my week to cook, I'll cook for seven days, but each day one of you will help me. It works perfectly because there's exactly seven of you…and that's an opportunity to…bond," he said the word like it pained him. The rest of the group showed disdained faces.

"Okay," Temari looked around curiously. "What about fighting? And consequences?"

"Hmm…"

"Let's vote on punishments as a group when its brought up!" Naruto grinned mischievously. He exchanged looks with Kiba. "It'll be like extreme survivor."

The group collectively shuddered. Kankuro quickly pointed to where Shikamaru, Neji and Tenten were, "How bout those three just vote on everything instead?"

Everyone quickly agreed and Naruto and Kiba frowned. Ino added, "Hm…let's have a complaint box too."

"Eh…that sounds good."

"Ooh!" Naruto raised his hand. "And a punishment box! You pick your _own _punishment. And me and Kiba can design all the random punishment options."

"_**No**_."

* * *

Sakura sighed as everyone filed into the living room. Sasuke came in last and when they made eye contact, she awkwardly smiled. He offered a hesitant almost-imperceptible-smirk which was good by Sasuke standards anyway. As everyone sat down, she was about to begin talking when Lee interrupted.

"Thank you Hinata-chan! Your breakfast was, as always youthful and delicious. I already feel the energy flowing through my body. I feel-dare I say it?- even more youthful than even Gai-sensei," he said exuberantly, flashing a grin and two thumbs up in Hinata's direction. She blushed at the attention and thanked him.

"Gai-sensei is old," Gaara said in a flat voice. He and Matsuri sat on the edge of the sofa and Lee turned in their direction and spoke most passionately, "I must respectfully disagree Gaara-kun! Gai-sensei has youth coursing through his very veins. Why, just last month, we ran around Konoha no less than fifty times. On our hands! He is advanced in age, I will admit. But youth is not about age-"

"It is," Sasuke rolled his eyes from his end of the couch and slouched against the arm. As Lee opened his mouth to reply, Sakura quickly cut in, "Er…that's nice and all but we should get started on this _group meeting_!"

"Why are we even having this? We're not in the AA or rehab or something," Sasuke sighed.

"W-Well Sasuke-san…we need to make living here more comfortable be-because we really have no idea how long we'll be here," Hinata spoke up and Sakura looked at her gratefully.

"And I don't know about the rest of you, but I want water back. And I don't want to lose heating or electricity next!" Sakura said firmly. The others seemed to pay attention then. "So, what's the first order of business?"

"Food!" Chouji almost sent his chips flying from all his excitement. Everyone sweatdropped.

"Hinata-san already does the cooking, though," Matsuri said, after a bit of hesitation. Chouji grinned, "But I thought we'd make it official. And what if she gets sick? Who cooks then?"

"Hm…I nominate Gaara and Sasuke!" Sakura said quickly. Gaara looked at her, a nonexistent eyebrow raised in question. She chuckled nervously, "Well…Sasuke's actually a good cook and Gaara, you and Matsuri are the only ones who can cook who wouldn't completely ruin the kitchen."

She had only looked at Chouji and Lee but the unspoken message about Shino was clear; nobody wanted any chance of a bug being found in the food. Sasuke nodded to show he accepted his role. Everyone looked questioningly at Gaara who stared back impassively. After five minutes of this, Matsuri tapped his arm, "So…Gaara-sensei?"

"I will," he said. "Though I can't say it won't be bothersome…"

* * *

Shikamaru raised his head and muted the tv, "I sense…" his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "A disturbance."

* * *

The group lapsed into silence.

"Great!" Sakura clapped her hands together and hastily tried to move past the awkward moment. "Now for the chores…I was thinking we could all just rotate each week? And you guys should build a few training grounds too."

Here, she looked at all the boys. Sasuke raised his eyebrow as if to ask "Why are you always volunteering me?" and Sakura scratched her neck and smiled sheepishly. "You and the rest of the boys from the other house! You know…for bonding and stuff."

"You'll have to excuse my lack of excitement," Gaara said, clearly unmoved. Sakura waved her hand good naturedly, "It's not like we…er- _you_ have to do it today anyway…But yeah! Um…you're dismissed!"

Everyone gave her unimpressed looks (except Lee who gave her a thumbs up!) and then they all drifted out of the room, leaving just her and Hinata, who was giggling behind her hand. Sakura huffed, "This house is so dysfunctional…I hate leading the meetings. But the only other ones who could are you and Sasuke and you're too sweet and Sasuke's too…not."

Hinata stopped laughing, "Speaking of Sasuke-san…did something happen? You both seem…different…"

Sakura almost sighed in relief. The Sasuke topic was well overdone and she didn't like bringing him up if she didn't have to. But she was also confused and had wanted to talk about this awkward situation but hadn't known who to go to. Hinata was asking though so Sakura could tell her without bothering her. She glanced around the now empty living room to see if anyone had overheard, then grabbed Hinata's wrist and led her into her room where she, after locking the door, collapsed onto her bed with an exaggerated sigh. Hinata sat on the end, patiently staying quiet until Sakura wanted to start. After staring at the ceiling for a few seconds, she looked over at Hinata, "He…apologized but…I don't know how to feel about anything."

Hinata stayed silent. Sakura suspected it was her way of getting people to talk. Whenever she was alone with Hinata and something was wrong, she ended up pouring out everything…like word vomit. Even after she said all she needed to, there was always more that came forth and then finally, as if Hinata somehow knew that Sakura had said every possible thing she could, she would suddenly resume speaking. It drove Sakura absolutely crazy.

"I…" Sakura took a deep breath and paused because she wasn't too sure what was wrong. She exhaled and frowned. There was a beat of silence and then Hinata was touching her hand, "Are you…upset?"

"I don't think so…" Sakura mumbled, staring at the ceiling in agitation.

"Angry?" Hinata tried.

"No…" Sakura's frown deepened.

"Happy…?"

"No."

"Sad?"

There was a pause while Sakura examined herself. Was that what she was feeling? "Maybe…" she answered. "But that's a very small part. I'm just confused! He apologized! But why? Why now? It's been almost 2 whole years! What made him decide to apologize now? What if he's lying just so he won't have to deal with me? He probably doesn't even mean it. And if he does, I just…don't understand what took him so long…"

"Do you think he was lying?"

"It's hard to say. Sasuke spoke for so long. But…he's _Sasuke_ and that's why I have doubts. But on the other hand, he…seemed genuine," Sakura frowned at the memory. "He was definitely awkward enough."

_Flashback_

"_You came to…?" Sakura trailed off in disbelief as she stared at her former ex-teammate. He stood up straighter and stuck his chin out a bit, "To apologize."_

_Then there was silence as they stared at each other. After a minute of nothing, Sakura's eyebrow twitched, "Well?"_

_Sasuke frowned in confusion and she had to take a deep breath to steady herself before saying, "You __**just**__ said you came to apologize…well?"_

"_Oh," Sasuke's eyebrows knitted. "I thought that __**was **__the-didn't know I had to-um…" He faltered. Sakura sighed quite audibly and he shook his head and steeled himself._

"_Sakura. I am sorry. For everything. You know when I knocked you out and left you on the bench?" He actually paused like she needed a moment to recollect the memory AS IF she could somehow forget that. She raised her eyebrows and Sasuke cleared his throat and continued, "And when I left Konoha. I…shouldn't have. This village is the reason both Orochimaru and Itachi are dead. Despite the fact that Itachi actually did everything to save me, I still couldn't have discovered that…without…all of you…"_

_And then, to Sakura's astonishment, Sasuke sat down on her floor and assumed a thinking position as he mumbled, "Hm…I'm not really too sure what else I should say…I should definitely say more though because this is Sakura and she might break my bones if I'm not nice enough…"_

_He closed his eyes in meditation and she deadpanned. Did he really just say all that in front of her AS IF SHE COULDN'T HEAR HIM!? As if hearing her hostile thoughts, Sasuke quickly looked up again at Sakura, "Do you have any questions?"_

_Sakura closed her eyes and counted to five, then looked at Sasuke, "This…is not…a school lesson! Haven't you ever apologized to someone before!?"_

"_No."_

_She honestly wasn't surprised. She sighed and sat down across from him, "What made you come back? When I arrived and attacked you, apparently you were already on our side. Why? What made you change your mind?"_

_Sasuke thought about that day and the moment he decided he was going back to Konoha, "That's a long story. I can't answer it. Not now."_

_She rolled her eyes, "Of course you can't." _The one thing that actually means **anything. **_She thought._

"_I…can tell you why I left…" he offered. Sakura's face contorted in thought because everyone already knew that._

_She restrained herself from snorting and stared at Sasuke, "I know why you left. You were insecure, selfish, and stupid. You thought learning forbidden things from Orochimaru would give you more of an edge against Itachi than staying and working hard in Konoha would. And most importantly, you were jealous of Naruto."_

_He almost looked shocked that she had read him so clearly. Then he looked indignant, "I was not jealous of dobe."_

_She laughed out loud and Sasuke was a bit unsettled with this new outspoken, un-smitten Sakura. When had she gotten so…loud? She rolled her eyes, "You were. I remember that fight on the rooftop. You were trying to kill each other, you were that serious. And I saw the water tanks. I saw the back of Naruto's. You just couldn't take that you weren't number one anymore. Hopefully your time with Orochimaru made you more mature because in my opinion that's what you really needed."_

_He said nothing. She sighed and mumbled, "Sorry about the breaking your ribs thing."_

"_I'm sorry I knocked you out and left you."_

_Sakura twitched, "…yeah. You already said that."_

"_Oh so…should we….should we hug now?" his voice was in his usual deadpan and he halfheartedly opened his arms. Sakura grimaced; she simultaneously wanted to hysterically laugh, cry and scream and run away, "No…no that's quite alright…"_

"_Hn…" Sasuke shrugged and dropped his arms._

_End Flashback_

"So…you think he was lying about his apology because he wouldn't tell you why he came back?" Hinata guessed. Sakura nodded and she continued, "I think that's the main reason you should believe him. He said "not now." He didn't say "never." It would have been easier to lie. And we can assume his reasons are personal because we know about his past. I think the fact that he's here, that he was here before he fulfilled his goal says a lot about his intentions."

"I just wish I knew!" Sakura said, extremely frustrated.

"Patience, Sakura-chan," Hinata advised. "Just like he has to earn your forgiveness, you have to earn his trust. Sasuke-san was _never_ one for talking about himself."

Sakura sighed.

* * *

Sasuke was just leaving his bedroom when he heard his name and curiously stopped next to the door he was walking past.

"...ood to see he remains." Gaara said genuinely. "To be honest, we weren't too sure he would."

Sasuke could hear the grin in Naruto's voice as he replied honestly, "We weren't either! I hoped he would though. I did believe that he changed."

They lapsed into a silence until Gaara surprisingly broke it, "Why don't I ever see you two together? And why do you insist on only training with me?"

"You noticed," Naruto's voice was more subdued now. "I don't know…I figure Sasuke doesn't want to train with me…"

"Are you not friends then?"

"No! He's my best friend!" Naruto said passionately and Sasuke stood frozen, shocked to hear Naruto defend him so easily. "I respect him a lot. I…he is the closest thing to a brother I think I have. But I don't know. He keeps to himself a lot more than he did before. And Sakura-chan doesn't like him and I don't want to upset her or bother him. He trains with Kakashi mostly. Once I saw him training with Neji."

Sasuke smirked wryly. That was not training with the Hyuuga. He had been rude to Hinata and Tenten when they had attempted small talk one day and Neji had taken it upon himself to defend their honor. He shook himself out of his reverie and with new resolve continued to his destination.

* * *

Tenten had ditched Ino to lounge outside with Neji so Ino was going over to see if Sakura and Hinata wanted to do something when she saw the front door open and Sasuke coming out. After some hesitation, she waved politely and was surprised when he nodded in her direction.

"Where are you going?" she asked curiously and to her utter bewilderment, Sasuke didn't ignore her but came closer and shrugged, "Just going into town to take care of a few things. Are you looking for Sakura?"

Ino nodded, staring at Sasuke like he was from another world. He continued politely, "She's in her room with Hinata."

"Oh okay," she moved past him to continue when he spoke again, "Um…Ino."

"Huh?" she turned back around and tilted her head. He wasn't looking at her and still had that disinterested look on his face, "You said before in Tsunade's office…when we were younger, you were helping me as a friend…"

He seemed confused as he said friend and Ino never in a million years would have thought they would be in a moment like this. She nodded to confirm his statement, feeling a tad confused.

"I…you…that was nice," he settled on.

"I was just looking out for you two," she shrugged and he frowned, seeming mystified by her words and her nonchalance. He stared off again, "Well…thanks."

She finally smiled brightly and even he was astonished when he offered a small smile back. Then he made an awkward half-hearted wave and continued into town and she, after replaying the events in her head, went to share that weird encounter with Sakura.

She ran into the house and pounded up the steps and had just reached the final one when Naruto came out. She shot him a questioning look, "What are you doing here?"

"Going to see Hinata-chan maybe. I'm bored and maybe she can make me some cookies," he grinned and gave Ino a thumbs up. She couldn't help but laugh. She gestured behind him, "Whose room is that?"

"Gaara," Naruto answered but then he scratched his head sheepishly, "But he kind of kicked me out so Matsuri could spend time with him."

Ino nodded, "I'm going to see Sakura but Hinata's probably with her." She walked to her friend's door and as she knocked Naruto stood behind her. After a beat of silence, they heard someone calling for them to come in so Ino opened the door. Naruto tried to follow but bumped into her as she stopped a foot into the room, her hand still on the doorknob. "What's all this?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at the bed. Sakura was laying on her back, staring upside down at them and Hinata was sitting on the bed next to her. They each had a bowl of fruit near them and in between them was a bag of chips. Neither had bothered getting dressed other than the sweats and t-shirts they wore.

"We're…kinda having a girl talk," Sakura smiled apologetically at Ino. Hinata meanwhile giggled at Naruto who was energetically waving his hand in greeting from behind Ino.

"Oh…alright," Ino elbowed Naruto and they both began backing out. She waved to the two girls on the bed, "I'll talk to you guys later."

When she closed the door, she turned around to see Naruto's incredulous face. She wrinkled her nose and pushed him back a few inches, "What?"

"You're not mad?" She looked at him in askance and he gestured wildly to the door. Ino shrugged, "Not really. They needed girl talk."

"You're a girl," Naruto accused. She giggled, "Yeah but…they needed to talk to _each other_ not me."

"But…you guys are best friends!"

"Yeah…but we come to each other for different things. Sometimes, I need to talk to Tenten. Sometimes Sakura and sometimes Hinata. No big deal. They'll probably tell me later anyways. Now come on."

She grabbed his hand and led him downstairs. He shook his head in confusion, "Where are we going!?"

"Well since I don't have anything to do now, I think I'll go pick flowers for our house to freshen it up a bit. And since you're not doing anything, you can help! Especially with those clones of yours," she grinned at the thought. He began wrenching his hand away, "I don't want to pick flowers like a girl!"

"Narutoooo," Ino pouted. He stuck out his tongue. She glared, "Naruto, quit being a baby! Come on…you can even get flowers for Hinata-chan and then she'll be sure to make you cookies!"

"You think!?" he asked, staring at her with rapt attention. She nodded wisely and grinned inwardly at the blush Hinata was sure to get from that. They both continued into the wild grass.

* * *

That night found everyone in Naruto's house, wondering why they were there at all.

"Seriously…does anyone know why we are gathered here?" Kiba asked.

Shikamaru smirked, "To celebrate."

"Ooh! Celebrate what?" Kiba turned towards him and cocked his head. Temari finished instead, "The beautiful union between two people in love."

Kiba deadpanned and the two chuckled, exchanging smirks. Ino rolled her eyes and turned to Sakura, "Do _you_ know why forehead?"

Sakura shrugged. Then everyone fell silent as Hinata and Sasuke entered from the kitchen. They both stood in front of the congregation and everyone stared uneasily at them and at each other. Hinata? And…Sasuke?

"Ne, ne! She's not pregnant is she, Teme!?" Naruto jumped up on the sofa, ignoring Sakura's commands to sit down. Kiba yelled out, "Hinata!? Are you!? What are you doing with him!?"

"Of course she's not pregnant by Uchiha," Neji all but snarled but his Byakugan was on and aimed right at his cousin's stomach. Tenten slapped her forehead and resisted the urge to smack Neji's as well.

"So…what's this about then?" Shikamaru asked lazily from his spot on the floor. Ino, behind him on the couch, shoved his head forward for his rudeness and he muttered, "Troublesome."

Temari sighed and rubbed both her temples, "Please just say anything."

Sasuke shook his head to clear it and stepped forward slightly, "I…am going to apologize now."

"Oh my god," Ino's hand clapped to her mouth. "She _is_ pregnant."

Tenten stared at her friend in absolute disgust and contemplated how she had even managed to become friends with someone so idiotic. Sakura dissolved into laughter at the look on her face. Shikamaru began lecturing Ino on the benefits of logic and how she should use it more often and Ino kept giving him the finger. Kankuro wondered idly, "Would the baby have the Sharingan or the Byakugan…?"

Neji glared absolute daggers into his head and regretted signing Tsunade's contracts. Lee shouted his congratulations and spoke of how youthful it was to bring new life into the world. Neji again regretted signing the contracts and began counting to ten to calm down. Tenten looked at him warily as he mouthed 'seventy three.'

"Okay Uchiha. Seriously. Spit it the fuck out before Hyuuga burns us all and Lee has babies of his own," Temari felt a huge migraine coming on.

Sasuke nodded and cleared his throat obnoxiously, "I'm apologizing for leaving two years ago!" He took their absolute silence as a sign to continue, "I've expected everyone to forgive me because I came back but I realize most people don't actually know that's what happened…even if you do, it doesn't make much difference because I shouldn't have left at all. I betrayed our village and risked people's lives. It's something I wasn't familiar with after my family died…affecting other people's lives. But I did. I caused a lot of harm and for that I am sorry, especially to Naruto and Sakura."

Naruto and Lee quickly began clapping but that came to an end soon enough. Sasuke stood there, accepting hugs from Naruto, Sakura and Lee, pats from Tenten, Ino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Hinata and Chouji and nods from everyone else. As everyone settled down and reclaimed their seats, it was almost like a collective weight had been lifted, at least in the Konoha 12. For so long, the topic had seemed taboo. Sasuke avoided more than the necessary contact, they avoided him. They avoided speaking of him around people like Sakura and they tried to act like nothing had ever occurred. They had gone on, ignoring the elephant in the room. But today they had addressed it and it was finally over. Everyone was making small talk as though they actually liked each other. For the moment, everything was peaceful.

Then Temari crossed her arms, "Whoa, wait a minute, why is Hinata standing up there with him though!?"

Silence.

Hinata smiled brightly, "I just…wanted to know if we could all have dinner together? I cooked and Sasuke helped as part of his apology so…"

A collective sigh. Neji's Byakugan was finally deactivated. Tenten and Shikamaru looked at Ino, shaking their heads in disbelief. Kiba and Naruto exchanged relieved glances. Matsuri giggled but quickly stifled it as Gaara turned to look at her. They maintained eye contact for a moment and then he was laughing out loud. Everyone turned to the source of noise and were shocked when they saw who it was. Matsuri began giggling again in earnest and soon everyone joined in.

Except Temari who just wanted everyone to get a fucking grip. Sasuke, who was very offended by the thought of him impregnating someone, just glared at them all. And Shikamaru deemed everyone troublesome and beneath him.

As everyone filed into the kitchen, Temari cleared her throat, "You know…as much as I'd love to join…I feel a bit ill. And I think I'm homesick as well. So me and my brothers and Matsuri are just gonna go cook a home meal at the other house…if that's okay. Arigato Hinata-san for cooking for all of us. We do appreciate it."

Hinata smiled sweetly and nodded, "I understand perfectly. Feel better Temari-san."

Temari smiled warmly, then grabbed the other three's hands and all but ran. Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji excused themselves as well. Shikamaru offered no explanations other than the fact that there were too many troublesome people and he fancied some desert food anyways. Chouji agreed. Ino attempted to make them stay and told them how rude they were for ignoring Hinata's kind gesture but it was a bit undermined by the fact that Hinata really didn't seem to mind at all.

"Mmmm," Tenten said, closing her eyes as she savored everything. She looked at Hinata, "You and Neji are great cooks."

Hinata giggled, "That's actually what Sasuke made. All by himself."

Everyone turned to look at Sasuke but he just stared back. Sakura cleared her throat, "Is…that true Sasuke?"

He rolled his eyes and nodded in affirmation, "I made sure there were dishes that you and Naruto especially liked…from what I remember anyway." He gestured to certain plates and bowls on the table. Sakura glanced over them in surprise and Naruto began scooping different things onto his plate with gusto. Sakura, however looked up at Sasuke again.

"Thanks," Sakura smiled genuinely and he nodded. As she began eating, she pondered what Hinata said earlier. Maybe she was right; Sasuke certainly seemed to be making an effort. He remembered their favorite dishes and was trying to make it up to them in ways that certainly weren't strictly necessary. It was a nice change from the way things were when he came back. It was even different from before he left. For the first time, Sakura got the distinct feeling that Sasuke was trying to be a good_ friend_, not a good teammate.

After dinner, Naruto was ready to veg out in front of the TV. He stood up and stretched languidly.

"Where are you going Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. Naruto looked back confusedly. She continued, "Ino mentioned something about you wanting cookies today? I baked them for you."

And she pulled out two trays full of cookies. Naruto's jaw dropped as he looked at them in hunger. "Wow! They look great Hinata-chan!"

Right as he was about to sit down again, he spotted Ino glaring and mouthing something. _Flowers._ He made a silent 'oh' and excused himself for a moment. When he came back, he had a bouquet of wild flowers for the girl. She blushed hotly and accepted them, "Th-thanks Naruto-kun…"

He scratched the back of his head, "Eh, no problem Hina…I mean no! Thank _you_ Hinata-chan!"

Ino nodded in approval then gestured again and Naruto, taking the hint, hugged Hinata tight. Hinata blushed even worse. Neji raised an eyebrow at the show of affection for something as simple as cookies and Sakura giggled as Sasuke began muttering about upstaging his apology. Ino almost clapped gleefully but held the urge back.

"Nice," Tenten nodded appreciatively, throwing an arm around Ino's shoulders. Then she pulled her closer and spoke in a soft murmur, "If you play matchmaker too much though, we'll have to return the favor with a certain lazy genius."

Ino decided that Tenten was evil.

* * *

When dinner was ready at the other house, Temari and Gaara brought out steaming platters full of kabobs and the choice between rice or noodles. Everyone began helping themselves.

"This is good!" Kiba had a touch of surprise in his voice. Kankuro raised an eyebrow and he grinned sheepishly.

"It's my favorite dish from the Sand," Shikamaru supplied. He and Chouji were both almost done. Temari smiled warmly. Chouji gasped, "Wow! Ino cooks something that tastes almost exactly the same. Except…there's more of a sauce. And its stuffed in a bun."

"Speaking of Ino, what's up with you and her?" Kiba raised his eyebrows at Temari. She was ready to say nothing when she saw that Gaara, Shikamaru, and Chouji were paying attention as well. She rolled her eyes and continued eating.

"She's just jealous."

"Jealous?" Shikamaru paused with food halfway to his mouth. His eyebrows wrinkled in confusion, "That's doesn't make sense; there's nothing to be jealous of…"

There was a beat of silence and Kiba unintentionally came to Temari's defense as he joked, "Her cooking skills can't compare."

Shikamaru shrugged and attempted to explain his teammate to the group, "I don't think there's anything wrong. She's just not used to Temari's tone like me and Chouji are. I'm sarcastic to begin with. Chouji and even you, Kiba, are used to me but Ino has never much appreciated sarcasm." Chouji added, "She's more of a straight-forward kind of person. She says what she feels." Shikamaru nodded, swallowing some food before continuing, "Sometimes she laughs at it but for the most part, I've learned to dial it back a bit. So now that Temari is here, it's probably strange to be around, especially since I'm a bit more sarcastic with Temari and since we all live together."

"Well, she should get over it," Temari growled, angrily shoveling in a mouthful of food. Shikamaru looked reproachfully at her, "It'll take some time but you guys really have a lot in common and you should try to get along." Temari didn't reply and they continued eating for a few minutes. Shikamaru hastily changed the subject. "Matsuri, how is your training going?"

"I'm okay," she pushed around some stray vegetables on her plate. Gaara shook his head, "She is modest."

"She's great!" Kankuro exclaimed, mouth full of food. Temari grimaced but nodded in agreement as her brother continued, "Passed her Chuunin Exams with flying colors." Matsuri blushed as everyone smiled in encouragement. She smiled shyly, "Arigato but…I couldn't have done it without Gaara-sensei." Gaara wiped his mouth and then looked at Shikamaru, "She's outstanding with weapons. And she can manipulate sand and wind as well."

"She's ferocious on the battlefield," Temari added and Matsuri objected, mortified. Temari grinned and went on, "She's the sweetest girl you could ever meet but threaten the village or someone she cares about and she snaps into ninja mode."

"I…" she shook her head in disagreement. "I have learned everything from Gaara. He is the greatest sensei anyone could have."

And Matsuri truly did believe it; if not for Gaara, she never would've learned to stand up to people and fight. She never would have learned how to protect the people she loved. She owed everything to him. He was one of the most important people in her life. She turned to flash him a smile of appreciation but her breath caught in her throat when she saw a frown marring his face. He no longer looked calm and at ease like a few moments before. Matsuri studied him for a few seconds, trying to understand his sudden change. Was it something she said?

She glanced around the table. Nobody else seemed to have noticed. Kiba was telling a joke that Shikamaru and Temari were rolling their eyes and chuckling at but that Chouji and Kankuro seemed to find hilarious. She looked back at Gaara to see that he had a small smile on his face again. But it seemed less genuine and left Matsuri feeling uncomfortable.

The conversation soon turned to how everyone was doing in their respective houses. Gaara, Matsuri and Chouji liked it well enough. Chouji chuckled, "There were some…issues between Sakura and Sasuke but that seems to be all settled. Even before it was settled, it was still pretty okay."

Matsuri nodded, "Everyone is really nice and they mostly stay to themselves."

Shikamaru groaned, "I wish I could say the same. We have so many troublesome people."

"Watch it!" Temari threatened, pointing her chop sticks in his direction. He smirked and waved her off, "You are one of the main people. And Kiba, you too."

Kiba, who had been laughing a moment ago, glared across the table at Shikamaru, "You lazy bum! What do you do to stop it?"

"Don't bring your fighting vibe over here!" Chouji joked. He spooned himself another helping and on second thought, served both Kiba and Shikamaru. With the additional food on their plates, they were quickly distracted with eating once again and the conversation turned to other topics.

* * *

That night, Matsuri hurried to Gaara's room and knocked on his door. Impatient and anxious, she opened the door without waiting for a reply. She stared wordlessly at Gaara, whose foot was on the window sill. He was looking over his shoulder and he raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw who it was. She hurried to apologize, "I-I'm sorry Gaara-sensei but I just wanted to see if you were okay because you seemed a little different at dinner and I hope I didn't offend you or anything. I just didn't want you to be mad at me. I'm sorry if I said something…?"

His eyes softened in understanding and he stared a few moments more before saying, "I was just going to sit on the roof. Would you like to join me?"

She seemed a bit thrown but didn't hesitate with her yes. She hurried across the room after shutting the door and followed Gaara up to the roof where they sat together in silence. He stared up at the moon and she fidgeted uneasily besides him.

"So…Gaara-sensei?" He looked at her to go on and she fidgeted again, "Why did you get so quiet?"

He looked back at the moon and sighed again, almost too quiet for her to hear. Then instead of answering her, he asked a question of his own, "Matsuri…am I not your friend?"

She was so shocked that it was now her turn to fall silent as she contemplated his question. Was he serious? He looked at her patiently and so innocently like he really honestly didn't know and Matsuri decided that wasn't acceptable. She clenched her fists and steeled herself. She would be completely honest, "You are my best friend. I didn't have any friends at all until you came along. And you taught me everything I know. I owe you everything, Gaara-sensei and I-I love you."

She blushed bright red under his gaze but stared back steadily. He seemed thoughtful as he cocked his head but then he went back to staring at the moon and Matsuri let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. She always kind of froze when his eyes were on her.

Just when she was beginning to think that the conversation was over he spoke again, "Thank you for your honesty Matsuri. You are the same for me: my first friend."

She raised her eyebrows. She hadn't known that. "What about Naruto-san?"

"I owe a lot to Naruto but he's a bit different. We started off as enemies and then we came to an understanding because we…were the same," Gaara explained. "And Naruto is so forgiving and selfless that we had no choice. But you…you had a choice just like all the other students who picked Temari and Kankuro."

"I'm glad I picked you!" Matsuri said fiercely. One side of his mouth quirked up in a half-smile and he turned to her again, "I'm glad too. But I am still confused. You still call me Gaara-sensei. Most friends do not bother with that."

"I…" she blushed again as she realized that an honorific was the cause of all this. Then she realized he was right. She still addressed him in a formal way. She thought back to the dinner; she had said he was the best sensei anyone could have. She had never actually said he was her friend. She smiled at him, "I'm sorry, Gaara. You are my friend."

Finally, Gaara seemed satisfied. He nodded and continued staring at the moon. When Matsuri drew her legs to her chest and put her chin on her knees, making it clear she wasn't leaving, he smiled to himself.

* * *

_Knock Knock_

Kakashi opened the door and they saw his eyes crinkle in confusion, "What are you doing here?"

Naruto opened his mouth to reply and Kakashi quickly shook his head, "If there's some kind of emergency, you guys are on your own! Tsunade-sama said you had to figure out things by yourselves…"

"No, we came to see you," Sakura smiled. Naruto quickly interjected with a thumbs-up, "Sasuke-teme here finally apologized! So we can finally be a fam- a team again!"

Sakura nodded in agreement and Kakashi smiled softly at his team. They were getting older and more mature and…maybe Tsunade had really been onto something after all. He turned to the silent one of the group, "How'd you finally manage to do that?"

Once again, Naruto was the one who answered, "He just said it! He was actually nice and Sakura-chan didn't hit him once and even Neji nodded at him! And he made Sakura-chan's favorite food and some of my favorite but..." Here Naruto fell silent as he studied Sasuke with a frown, "There was no ramen for me."

"Oh, I forgot," Sasuke started. He turned to Naruto, "Today, I stopped by that ramen stand you obsess over and paid for a year's worth of ramen for you. And Sakura I…wasn't too sure what to do…to make it up to you. You can just tell me anything you need or want and…I'll owe you one."

"Anything?"

"**Anything.**"

"Aw Sasuke-kun, you shouldn't have!" Arms were flung around Sasuke's neck and then Naruto was hugging Sasuke as tight as he could, laughing uproariously. The dark-haired boy immediately began wrestling for the blonde to get off. Sakura began laughing earnestly at the two and didn't even try to stop. Sasuke almost wanted to smirk at that fact but the dobe was really getting annoying so he shoved him onto the ground. Naruto's face immediately changed as he glared at Sasuke, "Teme!"

"Dobe."

"Teme!"

"Dobe"

"Teme!"

"Do-"

"Shut up!" Sakura yelled, stepping over Naruto and glaring at Sasuke as she passed by and entered the house. Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned his head before following as well. Naruto scratched his head, then stood up and ran past Kakashi into the house calling out, "Wait up Sakura-chan, teme!"

Kakashi grinned and closed the door behind his students, "Just like old times."

* * *

**Okay I know Sasuke is a bit OOC. He's like Sai mixed with an awkward Zuko or something. I had to give him redeemable qualities though! It is so hard writing for him because there really isn't a good reason for him to come back voluntarily, knowing that he hasn't and ugh. I'm not going to focus too much on it though, cause this is mostly a romantic comedy version of Naruto. But at the end of the day, Sasuke is still human so he still does feel things. He might not care as much as others or get nervous or shy that much but when he does, he would still have a reaction, whether he hides it or not. As for Sakura, I do like to hope that she wouldn't immediately forgive him and just waive away everything Sasuke did when he came back. So…I don't know; looking back, they kind of remind me of a Katara and Zuko fic I read. But oh well, if you have recommendations or anything about the way Sasuke acts, that would be appreciated.**

**Anyways, this is kind of the calm before the storm. Everyone is airing out grievances and people who clash are having moments: Naruto and Ino, Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke has formally apologized to everyone. They are getting settled into a routine and getting used to each other. I suppose you could say that the previous chapters were the denial stage and this chapter was kind of acceptance. So yes. Next chapter: drunk shenanigans! (evil smirk) stay tuned!**


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